SC upholds Shibu Soren’s acquittal in murder case

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the acquittal of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) supremo Shibu Soren in connection with the murder of his private secretary Shashi Nath Jha in 1994.

A bench of Justices Adarsh K Goel and RF Nariman refused to interfere with the August 22, 2007 verdict of the Delhi High Court which had set aside the trial court judgment holding Soren, former Union Minister, guilty in the case.

The CBI and Jha's family members had challenged the high court verdict which had held that the probe agency has miserably failed in getting evidence against the veteran tribal leader. The high court had also acquitted four others — Nand Kishore Mehta, Shailendra Bhattacharya, Pashupati Nath Mehta and Ajay Kumar Mehta — of all the charges on the same grounds.

A Delhi trial court had on November 28, 2006 convicted Soren and four others for abduction and murder of Jha. The order on sentencing was pronounced on December 5, 2006. Jha had gone missing from Dhaula Kuan area of south Delhi on May 22, 1994. He was last seen in Ranchi allegedly in the company of Soren's loyalists the next day.