The court acquitted Amit Jogi, giving him benefit of doubt.
Amit Jogi was the prime accused while 28 others were named as co-accused by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the murder of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) state unit treasurer Ramavatar Jaggi.
Jaggi was shot dead in front of a police station in Maudhapara locality here on June 4, 2003.
A large number of Congress supporters who thronged the court premises hailed the judgement as "victory of justice" while Jaggi's son Satish, who named Amit and Ajit Jogi as prime suspects in a police complaint an hour after the murder, termed the verdict "surprising".
The state's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as the opposition Congress were eagerly awaiting the verdict as it will have an impact on the assembly by-elections in Khairagarh and Malkharoda constituencies scheduled for June 2.
The verdict will also influence political equations in the state with Ajit Jogi leading a campaign against the BJP, which defeated the Congress in the December 2003 assembly polls and handed over the Jaggi murder case to the CBI.
The investigation agency had picked up Amit Jogi in June 2005 from New Delhi for allegedly masterminding the murder. He was in Raipur Central Jail for 10 months.
Amit Jogi, 30, was granted bail by the Bilaspur based Chhattisharh High Court earlier this year, but the Supreme Court overruled the decision and he was rearrested May 2.
(In Association with IANS)
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