A special court in Jharkhand on Thursday convicted accused Lakhan Verma and Rahul Verma for the murder of Dhanbad Additional District and Sessions judge Uttam Anand. The verdict was pronounced on the first death anniversary of the Uttam Anand murder which fell on Thursday.
Justice Rajini Kant Pathak of the CBI Court announced that August 6 will be the next date for a hearing on the quantum of punishment.
The court convicted Lakhan Kumar Verma and Rahul Kumar Verma for offences under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (disappearance of evidence) read with Section 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. Both the accused are in jail in judicial custody since the crime.
On July 28, 2021, Dhanbad Additional District and Sessions judge Uttam Anand was out for a walk in the morning when he was knocked down by an auto rickshaw. He suffered severe injuries and died during treatment.
Initially, it looked like an accident in the visuals but it was later found that the vehicle deliberately rammed into the judge as he was walking along the edge of the road.
After his death, the Jharkhand High Court took suo motu cognizance of the incident. Later, the State government decided to hand over the probe to CBI.
Following an outrage after the incident, the Supreme Court had also registered a suo motu case on safeguarding courts and ensuring the protection and security of judges.