Murder case against ex-UP MLA: Judgement fixed for Feb 22

A Delhi court today fixed February 22 for pronouncing the judgement in a murder case of 2003 in which former Uttar Pradesh MLA Udai Bhan Singh is facing trial along with five others.
Special CBI Judge VK Gupta, who had reserved the verdict for today, deferred the same to the date mentioned saying that the order was not yet complete.
The court had earlier framed charges against the accused under various provisions of the IPC dealing with criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder and intimidation.
According to police, five of the accused had allegedly conspired and hired two criminals to kill one Rakesh Pandey, an eyewitness in a triple murder case, on February 17, 2003, at Gopiganj police station in Sant Ravidas Nagar district near Varanasi.

The victim, who is said to have declined an offer of Rs 5 lakh for not deposing in the case, was threatened and later shot dead, allegedly at the behest of the former MLA, police said, adding that two others had also received bullet injuries in the attack.
Initially, Singh, the then MLA, and nine others were arraigned as accused.

However, three of the accused died during the pendency of the trial while another accused, Kallu, is still at large.
Besides the former MLA, the other accused facing trial in the case are Sandeep Singh, Ashok Mishra, Raj Nath Mishra, Mabud Khan and Vishal Singh.

The case was transferred to the national capital by Supreme Court on March 28, 2008, on the grounds that a fair trial was not possible in Uttar Pradesh against the accused leader.