India, April 7 -- The Chhattisgarh High Court has sentenced Amit Jogi, son of former chief minister Ajit Jogi, to life imprisonment for the 2003 murder of NCP leader Ramavatar Jaggi, observing that he was the "mastermind" and "driving force" behind the conspiracy.

A division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Arvind Kumar Verma, in its April 2 order, set aside a trial court's 2007 judgment acquitting Amit Jogi, holding it as "palpably illegal, wrong, perverse and contrary to the evidence on record".

A copy of the order passed on April 2 was made available on Monday.

The high court convicted Amit Jogi under sections 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to life imprisonment....