A Delhi court on Saturday convicted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Sahibganj Raju Kumar Singh in Bihar, in a case of celebratory shooting inside his farm in south Delhi’s Fatehpur Beri on New Year’s Eve in 2018, which led to the death of a 45-year-old woman from gunshot wounds.
The ruling was delivered by Special Judge Vishal Ghojne of Ross Avenue Courts, holding Singh guilty under Section 304 (II) of the Indian Penal Code (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and under Section 30 of the Arms Act (punishment for contravention of license or rule). The MLA was arrested on January 2, 2019, and has been out on bail since February 8, 2019.
The court noted that since the accused was firing a deadly weapon like a pistol at a crowded party where people were dancing on the dance floor, interacting with each other and exchanging pleasantries around midnight, the area was teeming with people and therefore “it was clearly a dangerous act for accused Raju Kumar Singh to use a firearm to fire several shots with his pistol”.
The court also ordered the MLA to be placed under judicial receivership, while listing the matter for June 9 for arguments on point of adjudication. The maximum penalty for these crimes is three years’ imprisonment.
Meanwhile, the court acquitted Singh’s wife, Renu Singh and two others, of the crime of Section 201 (destruction of evidence), on the basis of lack of physical evidence.
The case dates back to December 31, 2018, when Singh, who was previously an MLA with the Janata Dal United (JDU) before defecting to the BJP, during a New Year’s Eve gathering at his farmhouse at Rose Farm in Ambedkar Colony, fired gunshots in the air, wounding complainant Vikas Gupta’s wife, Archana Gupta. She was rushed to the hospital where she died of her injuries.
“The court arrived at a conclusive finding that the accused Raju Kumar Singh, who was identified by name and before the court by several eyewitnesses, fired the fatal shot which caused the death of Archana Gupta,” the special judge said in the detailed order.
A case was registered under relevant penal sections on January 1, 2019 at Fatehpur Beri police station and the police recovered a .315 rifle and live cartridges from Singh’s farm. The police then added IPC Section 302 (murder) to the FIR.
The MLA, his driver and co-accused Hari Singh fled the scene and were eventually arrested on January 2, 2019. (Fazil Nagar in Uttar Pradesh).
Witness statements later revealed the names of Singh’s wife, Renu Singh, and two others, Ramendra Singh and Rana Singh, who the court said had cleaned the blood from the stain after the incident.
On 30 October 2023, a Delhi court filed charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against Singh and acquitted Singh of murder charges, after noting that he had no intention of causing anyone’s death.
The court stated that there is prima facie material showing that the MLA, under the influence of alcohol, fired into the air at the gathering, resulting in the deceased Archana Gupta sustaining head injuries, and he “knew” that his firing could hit anyone at the party.
The court also brought charges of destroying evidence against his wife and three others, noting that they helped “clean the dance floor” of the deceased’s blood and caused the evidence to disappear. The proceedings against Singh’s driver were relaxed after his death during the trial.
The prosecution was represented by Additional Public Prosecutor Manish Rawat while the MLA was represented by advocate Rajeev Mohan.
