Supreme Court issues notice to Shibu Soren in Jha murder case

New Delhi, Mar 14 : The Supreme Court has issued notices to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Chief Shibu Soren and the CBI on a petition challenging his acquittal in connection with the murder of his private secretary, Shashi Nath Jha.

The apex court also issued notice to the accused persons on an appeal filed by the CBI against the verdict of Delhi High Court that set aside the life sentence awarded to Soren by a trial court.

On August 22, 2007, the Delhi High Court had acquitted Soren in connection with the murder case.

Soren along with four other convicts -- Nand Kishore Mehta, Shailendra Bhattacharya, Pashupati Nath Mehta and Ajay Kumar Mehta were acquitted.

A local court had on December 26, 2006 sentenced Soren and four others to life imprisonment for kidnapping and killing Jha.

The JMM leader had challenged his conviction and life sentence in connection with the murder case, which took place in 1992.

In his appeal, Soren had challenged the trial court's conviction order on the grounds that the trial judge had ignored the two DNA reports to identify the body of the deceased. He also claimed that every time the report was made available, it had turned out to be negative.

ANI