‘True tribute’: Ramavatar Jaggi’s son welcomes Chhattisgarh HC decision on 23-year legal battle

RAIPUR: Satish Jaggi, son of Ramavatar Jaggi, expressed happiness after the Chhattisgarh High Court ordered the former Chhattisgarh MLA Amit Jogi to surrender within three weeks.

The conviction of Amit Jogi by the Chhattisgarh High Court marks a major turning point in a legal battle that has spanned over 23 years. The verdict, delivered on April 2, 2026, overturns his previous acquittal and marks a significant victory for the Jaggi family.

“The Jaggi family welcomes this decision. We express our gratitude to the court. Today, my father has received a true tribute. The main accused in this case, Amit Jogi, has been asked by the court to surrender within 3 weeks. My father was murdered in 2003, and today the court has pronounced the sentence on the main accused,” he said on Thursday.

#WATCH | Raipur, Chhattisgarh: In the Ramavatar Jaggi murder case, the High Court has ordered the main accused, Amit Jogi, to surrender within 3 weeks.

On this, Satish Jaggi, son of Ramavatar Jaggi, says, “The Jaggi family welcomes this decision. We express our gratitude to the… pic.twitter.com/rVzzNCqo9l

— ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2026

A division bench led by Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Arvind Kumar Verma set aside the 2007 trial court order that had acquitted Amit Jogi. The court has directed Amit Jogi, the son of Chhattisgarh’s first Chief Minister, the late Ajit Jogi, to surrender within three weeks.

Earlier, Amit Jogi reacted to his conviction by the Chhattisgarh High Court in the 2003 Ramavatar Jaggi murder case, alleging that he was not allowed to present his side, which he said goes against the principles of natural justice.

Jogi said, “The High Court has accepted the CBI’s appeal, but I was not even given the opportunity for a hearing in it. To sentence someone whom the court has acquitted in the trial court without hearing a single word from him is against the principles of ‘natural justice’.”

#WATCH Delhi: On Chhattisgarh High Court convicts him in the 2003 Ramavatar Jaggi Murder Case, Former Chhattisgarh Assembly member Amit Jogi says, “The High Court has accepted the CBI’s appeal, but I was not even given the opportunity for a hearing in it. To sentence someone whom… pic.twitter.com/V9mF4UuXyo

— ANI (@ANI) April 2, 2026

He further said that despite the development, he has complete faith in the judicial system. “But I have complete faith in the country’s justice system. I have been subjected to grave injustice. The lower court gave me the opportunity for a hearing; they acquitted me. But in the High Court, I was not even given the chance to speak,” he added.

Jogi also pointed out that his matter is already pending before the Supreme Court and expressed confidence in getting a fair hearing there. “My entire case is pending in the Supreme Court, which was also within their knowledge. I am fully confident that I will get the opportunity to speak in the Supreme Court and that I will certainly receive justice,” he said.

The matter concerns the June 4, 2003, murder of Ramavatar Jaggi, who was then the State Treasurer of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The murder occurred just months before the state’s first assembly elections. (ANI)