Former two time Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta has once again been given a clean chit by the Gauhati High court.
The High court while hearing a petition filed by journalist Ajit Bhuyan and Social activist Ananta Kalita upheld its earlier verdict and termed the accusations against the former two time chief minister as part of a conspiracy.
In 2018, the Gauhati High Court had declared the findings of Justice KN Saikia Commission, who had indicted Mahanta’s role in secret killings, as unconstitutional and quashed the report.
Sitting MP and former journalist Ajit Bhuyan and social activist Anant Kalita had moved the high court challenging the court’s verdict.
Gauhati High Court issued its final ruling in the matter on June 11, upholding its earlier decision and noting that the claims against Mahanta were a result of a plot by numerous politicians and political groups to spoil his reputation.
The issue of secret killing, a series of killings of relatives of Ulfa cadre, had long dominated the socio political ethos of Assam. During Prafulla Kumar Mahanta’s tenure as chief minister, the killing of the people in Assam had destabilized public life. The allegation charges was raised to the then chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who was also holding the portfolio of state Home department .
Meanwhile, Ajit Bhuyan and Ananta Kalita have been criticised by the court for failing to provide sufficient evidence to back up their claims despite having had more than 531 days to file an interlocutory application under Section 5 of the Limitation Act against the Single Bench’s September 3, 2018 final order.