Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) 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 High Court’s order leaves intact the judgment passed by the Kamrup District and Sessions Court in February 2014, which had acquitted Bora and another accused, Pulin Phukan.
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Daniel Topno, a prominent leader associated with Assam’s tea community, was murdered in the Gohpur area in September 2000. The CBI took over the investigation in 2001 and subsequently named Bora as one of the accused in the case. The trial court had acquitted Bora and Phukan after finding that the evidence and material placed before it were insufficient to establish the charges against them. The CBI later challenged the acquittal before the Gauhati High Court. After considering the CBI’s appeal, the High Court on Tuesday dismissed the challenge, effectively upholding the trial court’s decision.
The case had remained in the spotlight for years because of Topno’s standing as a tea community leader and Bora’s involvement as an accused. Bora has served as president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee and as a Union minister. The High Court’s latest order brings the CBI’s challenge to the 2014 acquittal to a close, while the trial court’s acquittal of Bora and Phukan remains in force.
