The High Court of Chhattisgarh has sentenced Amit Jogi, the offspring of former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, to life imprisonment for his involvement in the 2003 murder of Ram Avtar Jaggi, a leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). This conviction marks a significant turn in a case that has lingered for over two decades, as Amit Jogi had previously been acquitted by a trial court in 2007, a ruling that the High Court has now overturned.

Ram Avtar Jaggi, who served as the NCP treasurer, was known to be a close ally of Vidya Charan Shukla, a former Congress leader and political opponent of Ajit Jogi. Jaggi was fatally shot on June 4, 2003, in Raipur while he was returning from a meeting meant to plan a major NCP rally featuring Sharad Pawar. Although Amit Jogi faced conspiracy charges, the trial court acquitted him, while 28 other individuals were found guilty in connection with the case.

Satish, Jaggi’s son, hailed the High Court’s decision to reverse Amit Jogi’s acquittal as a fitting homage to his father’s legacy.

Initially, Jaggi was a member of Congress and an ardent supporter of Shukla. Following the establishment of Chhattisgarh as a separate state from Madhya Pradesh in 2000, Ajit Jogi was appointed as the inaugural Chief Minister, which caused a rift with Shukla. In the run-up to the 2003 elections, Shukla departed from Congress to join the NCP, with Jaggi subsequently aligning with him.

Amit Jogi’s acquittal had remained unchallenged for nearly 17 years. In April 2024, the High Court dismissed appeals from co-accused individuals, affirming their convictions while maintaining Jogi’s previous acquittal. The pivotal moment occurred on November 6 of the previous year when the Supreme Court granted a special leave petition from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), contesting an earlier High Court decision that had denied the CBI’s 2011 appeal against Jogi’s acquittal due to procedural delays.

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