NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court declined to interfere in the Allahabad high court’s decision to uphold Union minister Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’s acquittal in the 2000 murder case of Samajwadi Party youth leader Prabhat Gupta. Teni, who represents the Lakhimpur Kheri constituency in Uttar Pradesh and serves as the Union minister of state for home affairs, had been acquitted by the high court, a decision that has now been reaffirmed by the Supreme Court.
The deceased’s brother, Rajeev Gupta, had filed a special leave petition (SLP) against the high court judgment, but the Supreme Court bench, composed of Justices Bela M. Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal, chose not to intervene after hearing senior counsel Kapil Sibal present his case. Despite Gupta’s requests, the UP government did not file an SLP challenging the high court’s ruling, leading Gupta to approach the Supreme Court last year.
The 23-year-old murder case has seen a long and contentious legal battle, with the high court upholding the acquittal of Teni and three others. The court stated that the prosecution had failed to establish a chain of events that would conclusively point to the guilt of the accused, resulting in the dismissal of the criminal and revision appeals filed against their acquittal.
Rajeev Gupta, who has been fighting for justice for his brother, expressed disappointment with the Supreme Court’s decision. The legal battle over the murder case has spanned two decades, marked by adjournments and delays in the high court.
Teni, a prominent and controversial minister in the NDA government, was formerly a BJP worker in Lakhimpur Kheri when the murder case occurred. According to the FIR, the victim and Teni had a rivalry over panchayat elections, leading to the fatal shooting in 2000.
Since the high court’s judgment in 2023, Teni has also faced scrutiny for his alleged involvement in an incident in 2021 involving the mowing down of farmers by a convoy of cars linked to him. The incident led to public outcry and further attention on Teni’s controversial past.
Throughout the legal proceedings and public scrutiny, Teni has maintained his innocence, claiming that all cases against him had concluded in his favor. His political career has been marred by these past allegations, specifically in the wake of the recent fatal incident involving farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri.