The Chhattisgarh High Court on Thursday delivered a significant verdict in the long-standing Ramavatar Jaggi murder case, convicting Amit Jogi, the son of the state’s first Chief Minister, the late Ajit Jogi. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Arvind Kumar Verma set aside a 2007 trial court order that had acquitted Amit Jogi, directing him to surrender to judicial custody within three weeks.
The primary legal issue before the High Court involved the challenge to the acquittal of Amit Jogi in the 2003 murder of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ramavatar Jaggi. While 28 others were convicted by a trial court in 2007, Amit Jogi was cleared of charges. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the victim’s family sought to overturn this acquittal, arguing that the prosecution had sufficiently established Jogi’s involvement in the conspiracy.
The case dates back to June 4, 2003, when NCP leader Ramavatar Jaggi was shot dead in Raipur. The incident occurred during the tenure of Ajit Jogi as the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh. Due to the high-profile nature of the crime and allegations of political vendetta, the investigation was eventually transferred from the state police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
In May 2007, a trial court in Raipur delivered its judgment, finding that the prosecution had successfully proved the charges against 28 accused individuals. However, the court acquitted Amit Jogi, citing a lack of sufficient evidence to link him directly to the crime.
The CBI initially challenged this acquittal, but the Chhattisgarh High Court dismissed the petition in 2011 on the grounds of a delay in filing. Similar appeals by the Chhattisgarh state government and Satish Jaggi, the son of the deceased leader, were also rejected at that time.
The trajectory of the case shifted in November 2023, when the Supreme Court of India intervened. The apex court directed the Chhattisgarh High Court to reconsider the CBI’s plea for permission to appeal against the acquittal afresh. Following these directions, the High Court reopened the proceedings last month.
During the hearings, the CBI’s counsel, Vaibhav A. Goverdhan, argued that the evidence presented in the trial court was sufficient to establish the charges against Amit Jogi. The prosecution maintained that the acquittal was inconsistent with the evidence that led to the conviction of the other 28 co-accused in the same conspiracy.
After hearing the fresh arguments mandated by the Supreme Court, the division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Arvind Kumar Verma concluded that the trial court’s decision to acquit Amit Jogi was liable to be set aside.
The bench formally convicted Amit Jogi in the murder case. According to the CBI counsel, the court has issued a directive requiring Jogi to surrender before the concerned authorities within a three-week timeframe.
The decision marks a pivotal moment in a legal battle that has spanned over two decades and multiple levels of the Indian judiciary.
