Jharkhand: A Sessions Court in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad Thursday held two accused guilty of murdering Additional Sessions Judge Uttam Anand, who was hit by an auto-rickshaw during his morning walk on July 28 last year and succumbed to head injuries later.

The court has scheduled to pronounce the quantum of sentence on August 6th.

Convicted Lakhan Verma and Rahul Verma by the Additional Sessions Judge Rajni Kant Pathak have been convcited under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) and under 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The Jharkhand High Court was monitoring the probe into the hit-and-run. The trial began this February as the special court framed charges against the two accused, driver Rahul Verma and his accomplice Lakhan Verma, both from Digwadih in Dhanbad. They were arrested around a month after the murder and were not granted bail. 

The attack on Judge Anand was seen as an “attack on judicial independence” and Chief Justice of India N V Ramana had stated handing over the case to the Jharkhand High Court.