Bhagalpur Court Acquits Former MLA Pawan Yadav, 20 Others in NTPC Protest Case

Brief By Newsbrief / 10:06 AM on 10 Jan 2026

A Bhagalpur court on Friday acquitted former MLA Pawan Yadav and 20 other accused in a nearly decade-old case linked to protests against an NTPC drainage construction project in Kahalgaon subdivision. The court granted them an honourable acquittal, citing lack of credible evidence to sustain the charges.

The case originated from NTPC Kahalgaon police station case number 14/16, filed on the written complaint of then NTPC General Manager T. Gopal Krishna. The complaint alleged that on April 7, 2016, a group of people armed with sticks obstructed drainage work at Majdaha village, raised slogans, abused officials, and demanded ₹5 lakh as extortion. Following the complaint, police had named Pawan Yadav and 20 others as accused.

During the trial, the prosecution failed to produce convincing evidence or reliable witness testimony to prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt. After examining the material on record, the court concluded that the charges could not be established and acquitted all the accused. The verdict brings legal relief to those involved after years of proceedings.