Bihar BJP MLA Raju Kumar Singh Convicted For Woman’s Death In 2018 Celebratory Firing

A Delhi court on Saturday convicted Raju Kumar Singh, the BJP MLA from Sahebganj in Bihar, of culpable homicide in a 2018 case of celebratory firing at a New Year party at a farmhouse in Fatehpur Beri here, which resulted in the death of a woman.

The court, however, acquitted his wife and two others of offences of common intention and destruction of evidence.

Special Judge Vishal Gogne convicted Singh under Indian Penal Code Section 304 Part II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and under the Arms Act provision for contravening rules regarding arms licence. The matter has been posted for June 9 for hearing the arguments on sentencing.

In a 97-page order, the court said, “The acts of celebratory firing during festivities are a scourge which often cause fatalities in our country.

“The present case reflects a similar tragedy where alleged acts of reckless celebratory firing by accused 1 (Raju Kumar Singh), a multiple-term MLA from Bihar, caused the death of a guest in a New Year’s party on the intervening night of December 31, 2018, and January 1, 2019. The other accused purportedly caused the disappearance of the evidence relating to this incident.” Noting the evidence before it, the court said it was established that Singh, who had been identified by multiple witnesses, fired the fatal bullet which caused the death of the victim, Archana Gupta.

It said, “Since the accused was firing from a deadly weapon, inter alia a firearm (pistol) in a crowded party with people dancing on the dance floor, interacting with each other and also exchanging pleasantries around midnight on the fateful night, the complexion of the area of the dance floor was that of a place reasonably crowded and teeming with people.” The court said Singh committed “a manifestly dangerous act” of using a firearm to fire multiple rounds from his pistol, and the act of celebratory firing in the midst of a multitude of persons, situated in proximity, carried with it the inherent possibility of a bullet hitting such persons.

It said, “A person firing from a pistol in such a gathering must be fastened with the knowledge that such an act is likely to cause death or to cause such bodily injury as is likely to cause death and the act of firing by accused Raju Kumar Singh is determined, by the court, to have been done with the knowledge that it was likely to cause death or such bodily injury as was likely to cause death of a person among the guests present at the spot.” The court underlined that Singh fired multiple times from a pistol of 0.22 bore around the hour of midnight, and one bullet caused the death of Archana Gupta.

“It is apparent that the licensee, viz., accused Raju Kumar Singh, was specifically prohibited from carrying a 0.22 bore pistol for any purpose other than sports/protection/display,” the court said, adding that the act of celebratory firing was not stipulated in the conditions of the arms licence.

“The accused is found to have been in blatant violation of a key condition of the arms licence issued to him for the possession of a 0.22 bore pistol,” the court said, convicting him under the Arms Act provision.

Raju Kumar Singh, 56, had earlier been a member of Janata Dal (United), Lok Janshakti Party and Vikassheel Insaan Party.

The court noted that the charge against his wife, Renu Singh, was that she caused the disappearance of evidence by cleaning the blood of the victim from the dance floor, apart from giving the used cartridges to her husband and asking him to flee from the spot.

It noted two others, Ramendra Singh and Rana Rajesh Singh, in furtherance of their common intention, caused the evidence of the offence to disappear by cleaning the victim’s blood from the dance floor.

Acquitting them, the court noted the absence of incriminating evidence and said that the prosecution had failed to prove the charge.

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