Daijiworld Media Network - Guwahati

Guwahati, Sep 22: 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 dismissal of the CBI appeal, the acquittal of Bora by the trial court has been upheld.

The case dates back to September 2000, when Topno, a prominent leader associated with Assam’s tea community, was murdered in the Gohpur area. The CBI took over the investigation in 2001 and subsequently named Bora as one of the accused.

The case 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 had held that the evidence and material placed before it were insufficient to establish the charges against the accused.

The CBI later challenged the acquittal before the Gauhati High Court, seeking reversal of the lower court’s decision. After hearing the appeal, the High Court dismissed the CBI’s challenge on Tuesday, leaving the 2014 acquittal intact.

The case had drawn attention in Assam because of Topno’s standing as a tea community leader and the involvement of Bora, a prominent political figure, as an accused.

Bora, who has served as president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee and as a Union minister, has been active in Assam politics for several decades.

The High Court’s order brings the CBI’s challenge to Bora’s acquittal to an end, while the trial court’s finding in favour of Bora and Phukan continues to stand.

The case is among several long-pending criminal matters in Assam that have passed through multiple stages of investigation and judicial proceedings over the years.