Ranchi: JMM chief Shibu Soren, whose acquittal in the 1994 murder case of his former private secretary was upheld by Supreme Court, has vowed to get justice for the family of Shashi Nath Jha, whose disappearance, he claimed, was still a mystery.
Addressing the media on Friday, Soren claimed he was falsely implicated in the case. "It was nothing but a political conspiracy to defame me," alleged the senior JMM leader whose high court acquittal was upheld by the apex court on Thursday.
Soren's lawyer Sanjeev Kumar, who is a JMM Rajya Sabha member, did most of the talking. He said although the apex court had acquitted the JMM supremo and four others accused of murdering Jha, the case was yet to be resolved.
"The Supreme Court has upheld the Delhi High Court order which said that the skeleton found at Piska Nagri in Ranchi in August 1996 was not that of Jha. The skeleton was that of Aleem Ansari. It was accepted by the high court and now the Supreme Court," he said, adding that the CBI had falsely implicated his client.
Kumar said that if the skeleton was not that of Jha, then where was Jha. "It's still a mystery. The CBI has to answer about the whereabouts of Jha. We will appeal to high court to look into this matter of serious proportions," he said.
Kumar said they wanted justice for the family of Jha as well as his clients, Nandkishore Mehta, Ajay Mehto (brothers) and Pashupati Mehta (their cousin), who were accused by the CBI of killing, Jha.
The lawyer MP, however, did not say when he would be moving the high court. "You all will be informed the next time when we meet," he added.
Soren, who was accused of masterminding Jha's murder, and the Mehtas spent two years in Tihar jail.
A Delhi lower court sentenced them to life imprisonment in December 2006. Later, Soren moved Delhi High Court which acquitted him and others in August 2007.
JMM supporters
Over 25 supporters of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha assembled at Randhir Verma Chowk on Friday and distributed sweets to celebrate the apex court's decision upholding the acquittal of Shibu Soren.
