New Delhi: Raju Kumar Singh, a BJP MLA from Bihar, was on Saturday sentenced to four-year imprisonment in a 2018 celebratory firing case that led to the death of Archana Gupta inside a farmhouse in south Delhi.
Special Judge Vishal Gogne of Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court also directed Singh to pay compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the husband of the deceased and imposed a two-month jail term under the Arms Act. The court further ordered that Singh shall undergo an additional three months of imprisonment if the compensation amount is not paid within the stipulated time.
The 56-year-old Singh, sitting MLA from Bihar’s Sahebganj, had fired a bullet in the air while celebrating on New Year’s Eve in 2018 in a farmhouse in Fatehpur Beri. The bullet hit Archana, wife of complainant Vikas Gupta. The Guptas were invited to the New Year party which was organised by Singh’s brother.
The court convicted Singh on June 6 under section 304 part II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder with knowledge) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under provisions of the Arms Act relating to contravention of licence conditions.
Earlier on Friday, Singh urged the court to release him on probation, making the point that he had no intention to cause death and had an otherwise unblemished record as a public representative.
It failed to impress the the judge. After examining 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 Archana’s death.
“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 judge wrote in a 97-page order.
