Amit Jogi sentenced life imprisonment

Raipur | Correspondent: In the highly publicized Jaggi murder case of Chhattisgarh, the High Court has sentenced Amit Jogi son of Jogi Congress supremo and former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi to life imprisonment.

The High Court observed that when all accused persons are charged with involvement in the same crime, one specific accused cannot be deliberately treated differently from the others.

A special division bench comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Arvind Verma stated that when identical evidence exists against all the accused, it is improper to acquit one while convicting the others based on the very same evidence, unless a concrete and distinct reason for the acquittal can be substantiated.

It is noteworthy that the trial court had previously acquitted Amit Jogi; however, a hearing was subsequently held in the High Court last month pursuant to an order issued by the Supreme Court.

This entire case dates back to 2003, when Ramavatar Jaggi the then-treasurer of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was shot dead in Raipur. At that time, the political atmosphere in Chhattisgarh was highly charged, and Ajit Jogi held the office of Chief Minister. The murder of Jaggi was directly linked to a political conspiracy.

In its investigation, the CBI named 31 individuals including the then-Chief Minister's son, Amit Jogi as accused parties. However, in 2007, a special CBI court in Raipur acquitted Amit Jogi, citing a lack of evidence, while convicting 28 other accused persons and sentencing them to life imprisonment.

These convicts included police officials as well as individuals possessing significant political influence.

The case took a new turn in November 2025, when the Supreme Court admitted a CBI appeal that had previously been dismissed by the Chhattisgarh High Court on grounds of procedural delay.

The apex court clarified that in cases involving grave charges such as murder and criminal conspiracy, priority must be accorded to the principles of justice and the substantive merits of the case, rather than to technical delays. Waiving the delay of 1,373 days on the part of the CBI, the Court directed the High Court to reconsider *de novo* the appeal filed against Amit Jogi's acquittal.