Guwahati, September 22, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Gauhati High Court on Tuesday dismissed a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) appeal challenging the acquittal of senior Congress leader Ripun Bora in the 2000 murder of tea community leader Daniel Topno in Assam.
With the High Court rejecting the CBI’s challenge, the acquittal of Bora by the trial court remains intact.
The case relates to the killing of Daniel Topno in Assam’s Gohpur area in September 2000. Topno, who was associated with the tea community, was murdered more than two decades ago, following which the investigation was taken over by the CBI in 2001. The agency subsequently named Bora as one of the accused.
The matter remained pending before the Kamrup District and Sessions Court, which in February 2014 acquitted Bora and another accused, Pulin Phukan. The trial court had found the material presented before it insufficient to establish the charges against the accused.
The CBI subsequently challenged the acquittal before the Gauhati High Court and sought reversal of the trial court’s decision.
After considering the appeal, the High Court dismissed the CBI’s challenge on Tuesday, thereby upholding the 2014 acquittal of Bora and Phukan.
The case had attracted attention in Assam due to Topno’s standing as a tea community leader and the involvement of a prominent political figure as an accused.
Bora, a former Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president and former Union minister, has been active in Assam politics for several decades.
The High Court’s order brings the CBI’s challenge to the 2014 acquittal to an end at this stage. The detailed order is expected to set out the grounds on which the appeal was dismissed.
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