In a couple of appeals filed before the Delhi High Court against a judgment dated 08-12-2014 by the Sessions Judge, Karkardooma Court, Delhi, whereby the appellants were convicted for being involved in the demise of Sh. L.N. Mishra, a Division Bench of Justice Pratibha M. Singh and Justice Madhu Jain considered the arguments of the victim’s family, and sought the stance of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) regarding the re-investigation of the matter.
On 02-01-1975, an incident occurred at the Samastipur Railway Station in Bihar that led to the death of L.N. Mishra, the then Railway Minister of India. In totality, three persons had passed away in the said incident, and eighteen persons were injured. Initially, the incident was investigated by the State CID, Bihar, and was then handed over to the CBI within 2-3 days.
In the investigation overseen by the then Director of CBI, two individuals were arrested on 08-02-1975. Thereafter, in July-August that same year, individuals belonging to a particular sect, Anand Margis, were arrested in the matter. This turn in the investigation was based on certain statements. The arrested Anand Margis included the present appellants. After the occurrence of the said incident, a National Emergency was imposed, which was lifted after 18 months.
After the emergency period, the then Chief Minister of Bihar directed a secret inquiry into the matter, and a report dated 24-10-1978 was prepared. The trial of the present case was transferred to Delhi on 17-12-1979, and after 40 years from the date of the incident, the trial concluded, convicting five of the accused, of whom three had passed away, and the remaining two filed the present appeals.
Initially, a Predecessor Bench, by an order dated 07-04-2015, suspended the appellants’ sentences. During the pendency of the appeals, the victim’s grandson, an advocate, sought to intervene and prayed to be heard fully. He filed an interim application and a writ petition. He was initially permitted to assist the prosecution, however, the Supreme Court finally passed an order in the writ petition whereby the grandson of the victim was permitted to assist the Delhi High Court at the time of the final hearing of the appeals.
The victim’s family prayed for a re-investigation of the matter while contending that the course of the investigation was deliberately changed, leading to the appellant’s conviction. They relied on the report dated 24-10-1978 and argued that the main conspirators, including a then Member of the Legislative Council in Bihar, who had executed the killing of L.N. Mishra, had been given a clean chit.
The Court questioned the CBI as to whether it supported re-investigation or the appellant’s conviction by the impugned judgment. CBI orally supported the judgment by the Sessions Court, Delhi, but no affidavit or status report was filed on record. Thus, the Court sought a status report from an officer of a rank not lower than that of the Joint Director regarding the CBI’s stand.
The matter has now been listed on 25-03-2026.
Appearances:
For Appellants – Ms. Sima Gulati, Mr. Pankaj Yadav
For Respondents – Mr. Rajesh Kumar (SPP-CBI), Ms. Mishika Pandita, Mr. Changez Khan, Mr. Siddharth Shekhar, Mr. Ajit Sharma, Ms. Kanchan, Mr. Raghav Sood, Mr. Aditya Jha
