Munna Shukla, convicted in the murder of former Bihar Science and Technology Minister Brij Bihari Prasad, has not received relief from the Supreme Court. The court rejected Shukla’s petition seeking an extension for surrender. The bench, comprising Justice Sanjeev Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar, and Justice R. Madhavan, emphasized that he must surrender within the time fixed by the court. The Supreme Court previously upheld the life imprisonment sentence for Shukla and his co-accused, Mantu Tiwari. Both were ordered to surrender within 15 days.
Acquittals and Legal Proceedings
In the same ruling, the court acquitted six others, including former MP Suraj Bhan Singh. The Patna High Court had acquitted eight accused in this case, including Shukla, citing a lack of evidence. Senior advocate Siddharth Agarwal, representing Rama Devi, argued that the High Court erred in its acquittals. The state government had transferred the investigation to the CBI.
Murder Background and Circumstances
Brij Bihari Prasad was killed in 1998 while hospitalized at IGIMS. The lower court sentenced all eight accused to life imprisonment in 2009. Prasad had entered politics in the 1990s, gaining many enemies due to his focus on Dalit and backward class politics. He was implicated in the murder of Chotan Shukla in 1994. In 1998, while a minister in the Rabri government, Prasad was arrested in an admission scam. After complaining of chest pain, he was admitted to the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, where he was shot by assailants in a red light car.
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