Celebratory firing death: 4-year sentence raises questions over future of Bihar MLA Raju Kumar Singh

On June 6, Special Judge Vishal Gogne of Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court convicted Singh under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC and Section 30 of the Arms Act. On Saturday, the court sentenced him to four years’ rigorous imprisonment. He was also directed to pay Rs 25 lakh as compensation to the family of the deceased.

The case relates to the intervening night of December 31, 2018, and January 1, 2019, when Singh allegedly fired his licensed weapon during New Year celebrations at his farmhouse in Delhi’s Fatehpur Beri. One of the bullets struck a guest, Dr Archana Gupta (45), who later died during treatment.

In its judgment, the court observed, “The acts of celebratory firing during festivities are a scourge which often cause fatalities in our country. The present case reflects a similar tragedy where reckless celebratory firing by a multiple-term MLA caused the death of a guest.”

While Singh’s legal team argued on the eve of sentencing that the act lacked murderous intent and requested probation, the court observed that as an educated public servant, Singh possessed full knowledge that discharging a live weapon into a crowded social gathering carried potentially fatal consequences.

The conviction is expected to trigger disqualification proceedings under Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, which provides for the disqualification of legislators sentenced to imprisonment of two years or more unless the conviction is stayed by an appellate court.

A member of Singh’s family said, “We are exploring all legal options.”

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Bihar BJP media in-charge Danish Eqbal said the party would abide by the law. “We respect the court’s verdict and will abide by it. We have full faith in the Constitution and the judiciary. Any further course of action will be taken strictly in accordance with the Constitution and the law,” he told The Indian Express.

RJD national spokesperson Subodh Kumar said, “Raju Singh’s conviction serves a big message for trigger-happy people like him.”

Multiple political switches

Born on January 12, 1970, Singh has represented the Sahebganj Assembly constituency in Muzaffarpur district six times, switching political affiliations multiple times over the past two decades.

His political profile reads like a roadmap of Bihar’s shifting coalition dynamics. He entered the Assembly on a Lok Janshakti Party ticket in February 2005 before joining the JD(U), on whose ticket he retained the seat in the October 2005 (fresh polls were called because no government could be formed after the first election) and 2010 Assembly elections. After losing as a BJP candidate in 2015, he returned to the Assembly in 2020 on a Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) ticket. In 2022, he was among three VIP MLAs who merged with the BJP.

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Singh, who holds B.Tech and M.Tech degrees from a university in Ukraine and a PhD from Maharashtra University, has also faced multiple criminal cases over the years.

Previous disqualifications

If Singh’s conviction is not stayed, Sahebganj will become the latest Assembly constituency in Bihar to witness a bypoll following the disqualification of a sitting MLA.

Since the Supreme Court’s 2013 judgment mandating the immediate disqualification of convicted legislators sentenced to two years or more in prison, several Bihar MLAs have lost their Assembly membership. Among them are CPI(ML) leader Manoj Manzil, who was disqualified in 2024 after being sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case; RJD’s Anant Kumar Singh, who lost his Mokama seat after being convicted under the Arms Act in 2022; another former RJD MLA, Anil Kumar Sahani, who was disqualified the same year after his conviction in the LTC scam; Raj Ballabh Yadav, who lost his Nawada seat following his conviction under the POCSO Act; and former minister Iliyas Hussain, who was disqualified after his conviction in the bitumen scam.