Guwahati, Sep 22 (IANS) : The Gauhati High Court on Tuesday dismissed a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) appeal challenging the acquittal of senior Congress leader Ripun Bora in the 2000 murder of tea community leader Daniel Topno in Assam.
With the High Court rejecting the CBI’s challenge, Bora’s acquittal by the trial court has been upheld.
The case relates to the killing of Daniel Topno in Assam’s Gohpur area in September 2000. Topno, associated with the tea community, was murdered more than two decades ago, following which the investigation was taken over by the CBI in 2001. The agency later named Bora as one of the accused.
The matter remained pending for several years before the Kamrup District and Sessions Court, which in February 2014 acquitted Bora and another accused, Pulin Phukan. The trial court found that the material placed before it was insufficient to establish charges against the accused.
The CBI subsequently challenged the acquittal before the Gauhati High Court, seeking to overturn the lower court’s decision. After considering the appeal, the High Court dismissed the challenge on Tuesday, leaving the trial court’s acquittal intact.
This development closes another chapter in a case dating back to the early 2000s and involving prolonged investigation and judicial proceedings. Bora, a former Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president and former Union minister, has been active in Assam politics for several decades.
The CBI’s appeal had sought judicial intervention against the 2014 acquittal, but the High Court’s latest order means the lower court’s finding in favour of Bora and Phukan continues to stand.
The case had attracted attention in Assam because of Topno’s profile as a tea community leader and the involvement of a prominent political figure as an accused.
With Tuesday’s order, the CBI’s challenge to Bora’s acquittal has been rejected. The court’s order will provide further clarity on the grounds for dismissal.
The case is among several long-pending criminal matters in Assam that have continued through multiple stages of investigation and judicial proceedings over the years.
