This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/6210330.stm

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Ex-minister gets life for murder Ex-minister gets life for murder
(10 minutes later)
A former Indian cabinet minister has been given a life sentence for murdering his aide 12 years ago.A former Indian cabinet minister has been given a life sentence for murdering his aide 12 years ago.
Shibu Soren, federal coal minister until last week, must also pay a fine of 500,000 rupees (about $11,000).Shibu Soren, federal coal minister until last week, must also pay a fine of 500,000 rupees (about $11,000).
Soren and four accomplices were found guilty of abduction, murder and criminal conspiracy in connection with the death of Shashinath Jha in 1994.Soren and four accomplices were found guilty of abduction, murder and criminal conspiracy in connection with the death of Shashinath Jha in 1994.
Two others were acquitted. Jha was killed after blackmailing the minister over bribe-taking, prosecutors said.Two others were acquitted. Jha was killed after blackmailing the minister over bribe-taking, prosecutors said.
The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says the conviction of a man who leads a party allied to the ruling Congress party is a major embarrassment for the Indian government.
Our correspondent says the opposition is using the issue to put pressure on the government, accusing it of shielding corrupt and guilty politicians.
A recent study by an independent watchdog revealed that nearly a quarter of India's parliamentarians are facing criminal charges ranging from murder to extortion and even rape.
Compensation
Soren, 62, who pleaded not guilty, is the first Indian cabinet minister to be convicted of murder. He is being held in Delhi's notorious Tihar jail.
It is not yet clear if he plans to appeal against the verdict.
He resigned from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet last week, when he was found guilty by the court in the capital, Delhi.
Sentencing Soren on Tuesday, the judge said he must pay 100,000 rupees in compensation to the dead man's mother and 200,000 each to his two daughers.
Jha, who was his private secretary, went missing in May 1994. His body was later found in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand, Soren's home state.
Federal investigators said he was killed because he knew that bribes had been paid to four erstwhile members of Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha party who had voted against a no-confidence motion in the then Congress government of PV Narasimha Rao, in July 1993.
In 2004, Soren quit the coal portfolio over charges that he incited violence during a tribal protest in 1975 in which at least 10 people died.
He went on the run but handed himself in to police and was freed on bail, later rejoining the government.