Prayagraj, Jun 9 The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to Abid, a convicted accused in the 2005 high-profile BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case, suspending his sentence pending the disposal of his criminal appeal.
A division bench comprising justices Siddharth and Vinay Kumar Dwivedi observed that the criminal appeal pending since 2024 was unlikely to be heard in the near future. The court, therefore held that Abid could be released on bail until a final decision is taken on the appeal.
Abid's counsel argued that his name did not figure in the original FIR and that action against him was initiated solely on the basis of statements made by co-accused persons.
The defence submitted that no test identification parade was conducted and that no incriminating material was recovered from Abid's possession.
The court observed, "When the testimony of the witnesses were recorded, pursuant to the charge-sheet filed by the local police, none of the alleged eye witnesses have identified the appellant to be amongst the assailants."
The bench in order dated May 29 observed, "There is no test identification parade which has been conducted by the prosecution during investigation at any stage and considering that the appellant was not named in the first of information report and his name has only featured on the basis of the statement of co-accused persons."
Pal, from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, was gunned down on January 25, 2005, as a result of political rivalry with Atiq Ahmad's brother Ashraf, whom he had defeated in the 2004 bypoll to the Prayagraj West seat.
