In the dominion of New Delhi, the High Court of Delhi has scheduled for consideration on May 16 an entreaty by the descendant of erstwhile railway luminary L N Mishra, urging a just reexamination into his demise following an explosion at Bihar’s Samastipur Railway Station more than 48 years ago.
Presided over by Justice Suresh Kumar Kait, a tribunal has slated the petition submitted by Vaibhav Mishra along with an appeal lodged by the convicts contesting their culpability and the imposition of life imprisonment for the crime.
Following a green light from the Supreme Court on October 13 last year, permitting his involvement in the ultimate deliberations of the convicts’ appeal, the grandson approached the appellate court.
“The present petition under Section 482 CrPC has been initiated pursuant to the decree dated 13.10.2023, issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in SLP (Crl.) No.13467/2023 captioned Vaibhav Mishra vs. CBI & Ors.
“To be considered in conjunction with the primary appeal identified as CRL.A. 91/2015 on 16th May, 2024,” the bench, additionally comprising Justice Manoj Jain, elucidated in a recent pronouncement. The seasoned Congress luminary and venerable cabinet minister had sustained fatal injuries in grenade detonations at Samastipur during his visit for the inauguration of a broad gauge line on January 2, 1975.
Transferred for medical attention from Samastipur to Danapur, he eventually succumbed to his injuries on January 3, 1975. Vaibhav Mishra had sought recourse in the apex court, contesting a ruling by the high court that dismissed his plea for directing the CBI to conduct a “just inquiry” and “reexamination” into the matter.
Asserting that the investigation was botched, Mishra had advocated for a fresh inquiry on multiple grounds, including the discharge of the actual perpetrators resulting in a “miscarriage of justice”.
Three ‘Ananda Margis’—Santoshanand, Sudevanand, and Gopalji—along with advocate Ranjan Dwivedi, were adjudged culpable and sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2014 by a trial court in this regard.
The trial court had adjudged that the act of terror was aimed at coercing the then government under Indira Gandhi to release the imprisoned leader of the group. The convicts had filed an appeal before the high court in 2015 challenging the verdict of the trial court convicting and sentencing them, and they were granted provisional liberty. The appeal is presently pending before the high court.
Furthermore, the trial court had mandated the Bihar government to disburse Rs 5 lakh each to the legal successors of Mishra and two other victims who perished in the explosion on January 2, 1975, just a few months before the declaration of Emergency.
It had determined that the plot to eliminate the targets was devised during a gathering in 1973 at a hamlet in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district, attended by six ‘Ananda Margis’.
Accused individuals Ram Nagina Prasad and Ram Rup were acquitted by the court in January 1981, while Arteshanand Avadhoot passed away in 2004 during the pendency of the case. Two others, Visheshwaranand and Vikram, were granted clemency after turning informants. The case was transferred from Bihar to Delhi at the behest of the Supreme Court.