Former Bihar MP Prabhunath Singh held guilty in 1995 double-murder case

The Supreme Court on Friday held former RJD MP Prabhunath Singh guilty in a 1995 double-murder case, reversing his acquittal ordered by the Patna High Court.

Two men -- Rajendra Rai and Daroga Rai -- were shot dead in Chhapra on August 23, 1995 reportedly because they did not vote as per Singh's order in the Assembly elections.

“We set aside the impugned order of the Patna High Court and convict respondent No. 2 (Prabhunath Singh) under IPC Section 302 (murder),” said a special bench comprising Justices S.K. Kaul, Abhay S. Oka and Vikram Nath.

The special bench ordered the Bihar government to produce the RJD leader before the apex court on September 1, when the quantum of sentence will be pronounced. 

It said that there was sufficient evidence to show that Singh had murdered Rajendra Rai and Daroga Rai near a polling booth in Chhapra in 1995. 

The top court in March this year had reserved its judgment on the appeal instituted by the brother of the deceased way back in 2012 against the order of the Patna High Court upholding Singh's acquittal by a trial court on the ground of lack of evidence. 

Singh is currently serving life imprisonment in another murder case.