The incident had taken place on 29th November, 1974 when a young journalist and emerging politician, Parsurama Satpathy, was hacked and crushed under a jeep by a group of miscreants. The 9 accused were arrested, but later acquitted.
The verdict was upheld by the Orissa High Court, but the Supreme Court asked it to reopen the case and hear it afresh. As the verdict was pronounced today, six of the convicts are already dead. Only three are alive and they might approach the Supreme Court very soon.