All accused Prof Sabharwal murder case acquitted

NAGPUR: Nearly three years after he was allegedly beaten to death, six ABVP activists accused in the case of murder of Prof H S Sabharwal in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, were on Monday acquitted by a court here for lack of evidence.

The accused were Vimal Tomar, Pankaj Mishra, Vimal Rajoria, Shashi Ranjan Akela, Hemant Dubey and Sudhir Yadav, all activists of the sangh parivar affliated-Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP), who were charged with murder and rioting by an unlawful assembly.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Nitin Dalvi, who tried the case after the Supreme Court ordered transfer of trial from the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, observed that the prosecution has "miserably failed" to prove the case against the accused.

The professor's son, Himanshu, who successfully petitioned the Supreme Court for transfer of the case, claimed that the Sessions judge has noted in his judgement that the accused might be guilty but he could not not convict them because of lack of evidence. His family would challenge today's judgement in a higher court, he said.

Prof. Sabharwal, Head of the Political Science Department of Madhav College, Ujjain, died in August, 2006, after a fracas in the college over student union elections when he was allegedly beaten up by the ABVP activists. Later, he succumbed in a hospital.