The Jharkhand High Court has acquitted former Congress minister and MLA Yogendra Sao in a criminal case arising from a 2010 protest during the inauguration of an NTPC project office in Hazaribag, after finding that there was no specific evidence that he had assaulted anyone or instigated the gathering.

A Single Judge Bench of Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava set aside the concurrent findings of the Trial Court and Appellate Court, which had convicted Sao for offences under Sections 323, 341, 504 and 353 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code.

The case arose from an incident on August 17, 2010, when a project office constructed by NTPC was being inaugurated in Hazaribag. According to the prosecution, representatives of the district administration, the informant, who was an Assistant General Manager of NTPC Coal Mines Project, and other officials were present at the inauguration. It was alleged that Sao and several others arrived at the spot and started abusing and assaulting the informant. The FIR specifically alleged that another accused, Leeladhar Sao, assaulted the informant with fists.

On the basis of the informant's statement, Keredari Police Station registered a case against Yogendra Sao, Leeladhar Sao and 13 others for offences under Sections 147, 149, 323, 341, 353, 427, 504 and 506 IPC. Following investigation, charge sheets were filed against the accused and the matter proceeded to trial. The Judicial Magistrate First Class, Hazaribag convicted Sao under Sections 323/149, 341/149, 504/149 and 353/149 IPC. He was sentenced to simple imprisonment for one year under Sections 353/149 and 504/149 IPC, six months under Section 323/149 IPC and 15 days under Section 341/149 IPC, with all sentences to run concurrently.

His conviction was subsequently upheld by the District and Additional Sessions Judge-XIII, Hazaribag in April 2016, following which Sao approached the High Court in revision. Before the High Court, Senior Advocate B.M. Tripathi, appearing for Sao, assailed the concurrent findings of the courts below.

After examining the prosecution and defence evidence, the High Court found that there was no specific evidence that Sao had assaulted anyone or instigated members of the public. The Court noted that the evidence largely showed that a crowd had gathered to protest the inauguration of the NTPC office because of grievances against its construction at the location. It further observed that Sao, being a public figure and MLA, had been identified by most of the witnesses. However, none of them attributed any overt act to him.

The Court also took note of the fact that Leeladhar Sao, against whom the FIR contained a specific allegation of assaulting the informant, had been acquitted on the basis of the same set of evidence. The High Court observed:

“…I also find that the M.L.A. Yogendra Sao being the public figure has been identified by most of the witnesses but no overt act has been attributed against him by any of the witnesses…”

It held that the Trial Court and Appellate Court had committed a serious error of law in appreciating the evidence and that their conclusion regarding Sao's guilt was “absolutely perverse and beyond the weight of evidence available on record.”

Accordingly, the High Court allowed the criminal revision, set aside the judgments of the courts below and acquitted Sao of the charges against him. Since he was already on bail, he was discharged from his bail bond liabilities.

Case Title: Yogendra Saw @ Yogendra Sao v. State of Jharkhand

Case Number: Cr. Revision No. 831 of 2016

Appearance:

For the Petitioner: Mr. B.M. Tripathi, Sr. Adv.; Mrs. Nutan Sharma, Adv.; Mr. Naveen Kr. Jaiswal, Adv.

For the State: Mrs. Priya Shrestha, Spl. P.P.

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