SC declines to transfer Union Minster Ajay Teni’s 22-year-old murder case

The Union Minister of State for Home had requested the transfer because the senior counsel representing him was normally based in Allahabad and he would be unable to travel all the way to Lucknow for arguments due to his age.

Image Credit: ANI

New Delhi: Supreme Court denies Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni's request to transfer the Uttar Pradesh government's appeal against his acquittal in a 22-year-old murder case from the Lucknow bench to the Allahabad bench. A bench of Chief Justice UU Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi directed Mishra to petition the High Court to allow the senior counsel representing him to appear via video-conferencing if he is unable to travel to Lucknow. "In case the senior counsel is unable to come down to Lucknow, a request for allowing said counsel to make submissions through video-conferencing may be considered by the High Court," the bench stated in its order.

Mishra had petitioned the Supreme Court in response to a High Court order that denied his request to transfer the government's appeal from the Lucknow bench to the Allahabad bench. The Union Minister of State for Home had requested the transfer on the grounds that the senior counsel representing him was normally based in Allahabad and that, due to his age, he would be unable to travel all the way to Lucknow for arguments. According to the charges, Mishra murdered a local entrepreneur, Prabhat Gupta, in Tikunia, Uttar Pradesh, in July 2000, over a business rivalry. He was acquitted by the trial court in 2004, and the Uttar Pradesh government appealed to the High Court in 2004. This matter is still pending in the High Court.

(With ANI inputs)