AGARTALA, Sept 7 - High Court of Tripura on Monday upheld the judgment of District and Sessions Judge, Kailasahar in the Babur Bazaar case that sentenced Pradesh Congress president Birajit Sinha to three months imprisonment.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Subhasish Talapatra also dismissed the petition filed by State Government that sought six months imprisonment for Sinha. Rejecting the plea of Sinha who sought acquittal from the case, the division bench upheld the judgment of the lower court on merit.
In 2013, the lower court awarded three months imprisonment to incumbent PCC president Sinha for violating the Arms Act in a double-murder case that rocked the State on July 20, 2004. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on Sinha under Arms Act involving killing of two people.
On July 20, 2004, during a by-poll of village Panchayat, a major clash and firing occurred between opposition Congress and ruling CPIM supporters at Babur Bazaar under Kailasahar Police Station. In the firing, two people � Abdul Hannan, a CPIM supporter and Nikhil Deb, Sinha�s personal security guard were killed.
It is learnt that Sinha was carrying a licensed pistol that day. Sinha was accused of carrying additional quantities of cartridges of his pistol than the stipulated numbers. Return firing was also done from his pistol. Notably, the court also awarded two and a half years sentence and a fine of Rs 2,000 to slain CPIM activist Abdul Hannan�s father Abdul Rahman for inciting the mob that day.
However, Congress leaders tonight told reporters that it was a case of violation of administrative order, not Arms Act. �We will move the Supreme Court against the High Court judgment�, they added.
