Bhopal: Supreme Court has directed High Court to dispose of pending case pertaining to a murder in which state minister Lal Singh Arya is a co-accused. Senior advocate Vivek Tankha, while talking to Free Press, said, “SC has instructed HC to dispose of the matter within a month as it is an interim order regarding stay. So, it is up to HC to dispose of the matter as early as it is possible. Interim order is temporary.” However, Supreme Court division bench of Justices Adarsh K Goel and Uday U Lalit refused to intervene on the stay ordered by High Court in this case.
The minister is a co-accused in Congress MLA Makhan Lal Jatav’s murder, which took place in April 2009 and is currently on bail. The HC stayed the trial in Bhind and said the petitions on validity of the trial will be finally decided at a later stage. Challenging this order, key witness in this case Suryabhan Singh Gurjar moved the apex court and sought an immediate vacation of the stay.
On December 15, 2017, the HC had stayed the ongoing trial at a Bhind court taking into account objections raised by CBI. The CBI moved HC, complaining that the magistrate in Indore had erroneously sent the case for trial before a sessions court in Bhind and that the trial must continue in Indore. Arya has also separately challenged the validity of trial in Bhind on this ground.
While the magistrate had referred the case to Bhind on the ground that the murder had taken place in Bhind, the HC prima facie found the decision to be in violation of the Criminal Procedure Code because the CBI had filed its charge sheet in Indore.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Salman Khurshid and Vivek Tankha appeared for Gurjar and questioned the rationale of stalling the trial at this stage. The lawyers contended that murder took place 11 years ago and staying the trial would affect delivery of justice.