The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the Chhattisgarh High Court verdict, which had handed down life imprisonment to Amit Jogi, son of former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, in the 2003 murder case of NCP leader Ramavatar Jaggi.Jaggi was murdered on June 4, 2003, when Ajit Jogi was the Chhattisgarh CM. Taking note of the submissions made by senior advocates Vivek Tankha and Kapil Sibal on behalf of Jogi, a Bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Vijay Bishnoi stayed his conviction and the sentence in the case. Senior advocates Sidhharth Luthra and Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the victim’s family, opposed the stay order.The Chhattisgarh HC earlier this month convicted Amit Jogi — the president of the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) founded by his late father Ajit Jogi in 2016 — of the charges levelled against him in the case and directed him to surrender before the jail authorities. On May 31, 2007, a trial court held that the prosecution had successfully proved the charges against 28 accused. However, it had acquitted Amit. The HC had reopened proceedings in the 2003 murder case last month following the SC directions.


