New Delhi: The Lucknow branch of Allahabad High Court on Friday commuted the death sentence of main convict Monu Mittal in the Manjunath Shanmugam murder case to life imprisonment.
But the High Court upheld the life sentence of five others while acquitting two others of all charges.
The two-member bench of Justice KK Mishra and Justice DV Sharma felt that the case did not amount to the rarest of rare cases and so the death sentence was commuted.
The two who were acquitted are both employees of the petrol pump owned by Mittal - Sanjay Awasthi and Harish Mishra.
An IIM Lucknow alumnus of the 2003 batch, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) Sales manager Manjunath was murdered on November 19, 2005, by petrol pump owner Monu Mittal and his accomplices in Uttar Pardesh.
The 27-year-old was shot dead for exposing petrol adulteration racket at Mittal’s petrol pump in Lakhmipur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh.
A chargesheet in this connection was filed against these persons on February 15, 2006.
In March 2007, Monu Mittal alias Pawan was awarded death sentence while seven others were sentenced to life by the District Sessions Judge Lakhimpur Kheri, SMA Abidi.
Manjunath's brother Raghavendran says, "It's good that they have been found guilty and given a life sentence. The judgement is okay. We will consult our lawyers and the Manjunath trust on the judgement and see the way forward. We felt bad about the fact that one person's sentence was converted from death to life, but at least they will be in prison. My brother did his duty and it really hurts that he lost his life for doing his duty."
Meanwhile, Counsel of Manjunath Shanmugam Trust, I B Singh said, "We will have to go through the judgement to know the grounds on which the decision of a death sentence was converted into a life term and the acquittal of two persons."
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