The Delhi High Court has declined to stay the conviction of Bihar BJP MLA Raju Kumar Singh in a 2018 celebratory firing case that led to the death of a woman.
Justice Manoj Jain dismissed Mr. Singh’s application seeking suspension of his conviction, noting that a preliminary examination of the case did not reveal any “manifest perversity” or “palpable error” in the trial court’s findings.
In the judgment passed on September 29, the court also took note of Mr. Singh’s criminal antecedents and said the offence involved an element of moral turpitude. “The appellant was allegedly under the influence of liquor and had used firearm and indulged in celebratory firing, despite knowing fully well the consequences of such an act,” the court observed.
‘No clean record’
Pointing to the cases in which Mr. Singh had been implicated, the court said that although he had been acquitted in several of them, he could not be said to have a clean record. The court accordingly dismissed his plea for suspension of conviction.
Mr. Singh, an MLA from Sahebganj in Bihar, was sentenced to four years of simple imprisonment by a trial court on July 4 for the death of Archana Gupta, who was shot during the New Year eve party at a farmhouse in Delhi’s Fatehpur Beri area on December 31, 2018.
The trial court had also imposed a fine of ₹25 lakh on the legislator while criticising the culture of celebratory firing. It had remarked that “we need neither a Singham nor a Pushpa in a State governed by the rule of law”.
Mr. Singh was convicted in June under Section 304 Part II of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder committed with knowledge of the likelihood of causing death, and under provisions of the Arms Act concerning violations of licence conditions.
The High Court had suspended Mr. Singh’s sentence on July 27. However, suspension of the sentence does not automatically stay the conviction.
Seeking a stay on his conviction, Mr. Singh’s counsel submitted that he was a sitting MLA with a long political career and would face disqualification and be barred from contesting future elections if the conviction remained in force.
Published – October 02, 2026 01:45 am IST
