SC upholds Shibu Soren's acquittal in 1994 murder case

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Delhi High Court verdict which had acquitted Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief, Shibu Soren in murder of his private secretary in 1994. It refused to interfere in 2007 verdict of HC which had set aside trial court judgement holding Soren guilty.

A Delhi trial court had on November 28, 2006 convicted Soren and four others for abduction and murder of Jha. The order on sentencing was pronounced on December 5, 2006. Jha had gone missing from Dhaula Kuan area of south Delhi on May 22, 1994.

He was last seen in Ranchi allegedly in the company of Soren's loyalists the next day.

Soren, 74, had to quit as Union coal minister from the then UPA government following his conviction by the trial court and was shifted from the Tihar jail here to Dumka prison in Jharkhand.

Soren, currently Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's Lok Sabha member from Dumka constituency, is a three-time chief minister of Jharkhand.