Bihar’s Nitish Kumar government is planning to move the Supreme Court to challenge the bail granted to gangster-politician Shahabuddin of the RJD, who was released from jail on Saturday.
Bihar’s Nitish Kumar government is planning to move the Supreme Court to challenge the bail granted to gangster-politician Shahabuddin of the RJD, who was released from jail on Saturday.
Sources said the state government was contemplating such measures after the district administration sent it a report saying that witnesses were scared after he was released from jail on the orders of the Patna high court. JD(U) sources said the state police headquarters had directed officials to take swift steps to ensure that law and order in Siwan remained under control.
The Siwan police has also begun a probe to find out whether the bail norms were violated during or after his release from jail. Siwan SP Saurav Sah said: “We are investigating, and if we find any violation we will move for the cancellation of his bail.”
The JD(U) issued a statement Wednesday saying the “state government is taking legal steps to challenge the bail of alleged gangster Shahabuddin”. Speaking on the issue, JD(U) spokesman Ajay Alok said: “This is a normal procedure that if the state government is not satisfied with the bail of any person, it goes into appeal in higher court... This will be followed even in the case of Shahabuddin.”
With the state BJP questioning the delay in filing an appeal for cancellation of bail, the JD(U) spokesman said the courts were closed for the festival holiday, so it was wrong to talk about a delay.
A similar petition for the cancellation of Shahabuddin’s bail will be filed by top lawyer Prashant Bhushan on behalf of Chandrakeshwar Prasad, alias Chanda Babu, the father of three youths allegedly killed by Shahabuddin’s men in Siwan.
Shahabuddin, who was granted bail over the murder of eyewitness Rajiv Roshan, has over 39 criminal cases against him. Rajiv Roshan was the sole eyewitness in the murder of his two brothers, Girish and Satish, who were brutally killed after they were given an acid bath on August 16, 2004 in Siwan. Rajiv Roshan was later killed in June 2014, barely three days before he was to appear in court to testify against Shahabuddin and his men.
