Kumar Bahukhandi
Leader of Jaanta Congress Amit Jogi. File picture (Internet)
Bilaspur: A Division Bench of the Chhattisgarh High Court in Bilaspur has on Thursday April2, 2026 delivered a significant verdict regarding the murder case of late NCP leader Ramavatar Jaggi. Setting aside a previous order, the High Court has allowed the appeal filed by the CBI. Concurrently with accepting the CBI’s appeal, the court has directed Amit Jogi, the prime accused in the murder case to surrender within three weeks.
It is pertinent to note that the CBI and Satish Jaggi (the son of the late Jaggi) had separately filed petitions in the Supreme Court challenging the earlier decision of the High Court. During the hearing of these petitions, the Supreme Court directed the Chhattisgarh High Court in Bilaspur to hear the matter.
Acting upon the Supreme Court’s directive, the case file regarding the Jaggi murder has been reopened, and hearings are currently underway.
Advocate B.P. Sharma, representing the petitioner Satish Jaggi, apprised the Division Bench that the Supreme Court had remanded the case back to the Chhattisgarh High Court in Bilaspur for reconsideration.
Advocate Vaibhav A. Govardhan, appearing on behalf of the CBI, and Deputy Advocate General Dr. Saurabh Pandey, appearing for the State, jointly submitted that the State had filed an application on May 31, 2007, seeking permission to appeal against the acquittal verdict delivered by the lower court.
This application was subsequently dismissed by a Coordinate Bench of this Court on August 18, 2011, on the grounds that an application seeking permission for an appeal filed by the State is not admissible in a case where the investigation is being conducted by the CBI.
The CBI had filed a petition challenging the judgment and order dated May 31, 2007. However, a Coordinate Bench of this Court had dismissed this petition via an order dated September 12, 2011, citing the grounds of delay. Furthermore, a petition filed by the complainant, Satish Jaggi seeking to convert a revision petition into a criminal appeal in order to challenge the acquittal of Amit Aishwarya Jogi was also dismissed by an order dated September 19, 2011. Satish Jaggi and the CBI filed a petition before the Supreme Court challenging the High Court’s orders dated August 18, 2011; September 12, 2011; and September 19, 2011.
Following a hearing on the petition, and in light of the order dated November 6, 2025, the Supreme Court condoned the delay in filing the petition. The matter was remanded to the Chhattisgarh High Court at Bilaspur for reconsideration on its merits, specifically regarding the CBI’s application seeking leave to appeal.
The Supreme Court further directed the CBI to implead the original complainant and the State as necessary parties to the said proceedings. The CBI’s counsel, Vaibhav A. Govardhan, submitted a copy of the Supreme Court’s order dated November 6, 2025, before the High Court, which has been taken on record.
The matter was heard by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Arvind Kumar Verma. The Division Bench issued notices to Amit Jogi, an accused in the Jaggi murder case—and to the petitioner, Satish Jaggi, directing them to appear before the Court accompanied by their respective counsels.
The Division Bench directed that the notices be served through the Superintendent of Police (SP), Raipur. In addition to serving the notices, the SP, Raipur, was directed to submit an affidavit. The counsel appearing on behalf of the State Government was instructed to forward copies of the notices to the SP, Raipur, to ensure compliance with these directives.
On June 4, 2003, NCP leader Ramavatar Jaggi was shot dead. In connection with this case, the police named 31 individuals as accused. Subsequently, Baltu Pathak and Surendra Singh turned approvers (state witnesses). With the exception of Amit Jogi, the remaining 28 accused individuals were convicted. However, Amit Jogi was subsequently acquitted.
Ramavatar Jaggi’s son, Satish Jaggi, filed an appeal in the Supreme Court challenging Amit Jogi’s acquittal; currently, a stay order in Amit’s favor remains in force regarding this matter. Ramavatar Jaggi, who hailed from a business background, was extremely close to the late Vidya Charan Shukla, a former Union Minister and one of the country’s prominent political leaders.
When Shukla left the Congress party to join the NCP, Jaggi followed suit and joined the NCP alongside him. The late Vidya Charan Shukla had appointed Jaggi as the Treasurer of the NCP in Chhattisgarh.
The individuals convicted in the Jaggi murder case are Abhay Goyal, Yahya Dheber, V.K. Pandey, Firoz Siddiqui, Rakesh Chandra Trivedi, Avneesh Singh Lallan, Suryakant Tiwari, Amrik Singh Gill, Chiman Singh, Sunil Gupta, Raju Bhadauria, Anil Pachauri, Ravindra Singh, Ravi Singh, Lalla Bhadauria, Dharmendra, Satyendra Singh, Shivendra Singh Parihar, Vinod Singh Rathore, Sanjay Singh Kushwaha, Rakesh Kumar Sharma, (the deceased) Vikram Sharma, Jabwant, and Vishwanath Rajbhar.
