The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the Chhattisgarh High Court’s April 2 order convicting former MP Amit Jogi of the 2003 murder of a political dissident, questioning how he could be sentenced without hearing him. The stay came at a time when Amit Jogi, son of late former Prime Minister Ajit Jogi, was supposed to surrender on Thursday as per the Supreme Court order sentencing him to life imprisonment.
“How can a ruling be passed without hearing the accused?” asked the bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi. “The impact and implementation of the ruling remain pending.”
Amit Jogi has appealed the Supreme Court’s quashing of the lower court’s acquittal order in 2007, arguing that it was done without being heard. The Supreme Court described the acquittal as “manifestly illegal, erroneous, perverse, inconsistent with the evidence available on record and without any concrete basis.”
In 2007, the court convicted 28 people for the murder of NCP leader Ramavtar Jaggi in June 2003, but acquitted Amit Jogi, citing insufficient evidence.
The Chhattisgarh government has appealed against the acquittal, claiming that it had investigated the matter initially. In August 2011, the Supreme Court said the state had no right to file an appeal while the Central Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.
In January 2004, Chhattisgarh recommended a CBI investigation into the murder, as Satish Jaggi, Jaggi’s son, expressed dissatisfaction with the Chhattisgarh Police investigation. The CBI named Amit Jogi among the accused.
The CBI concluded that Amit Jogi and four others conspired to disrupt the NCP’s march in June 2003 by targeting Ramaftar Jaggi. She said that a meeting to finalize the plan to disrupt the march was held at the Prime Minister’s residence in May 2003, where Ramavtar Jaggi was chosen as the main target.
The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice on Ajit Jogi’s appeal against the Supreme Court order before the CBI and complainant Satish Jogi. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Mukul Rohatgi, Vivek Tanka and Siddharth Dave appeared for Amit Jogi.
Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, who represented Satish Jaggi, pointed out that the Supreme Court had in November 2025 allowed the CBI to file an appeal challenging the acquittal of Amit Jogi, stating that technical details would not hamper the investigation into the serious charges.
In 2011, the Chhattisgarh High Court dismissed the CBI’s appeal against the acquittal, citing delay in filing. The Supreme Court noted that the CBI filed the appeal against the May 2007 order after a delay of 1,373 days.
