The Supreme Court on Monday called the murder trial against gangster-turned-politician and former RJD MP Mohd Shahabuddin as a case which will test whether fair justice will prevail equally over all.
“This is a case which will test criminal jurisprudence on the concept of fair trial and witness protection,” a Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy observed.
‘Politically motivated’
The court was hearing a plea by a murder victim’s family to transfer Shahabuddin from a jail in Bihar to Delhi’s Tihar Jail so that his influence would not corrode the process of fair trial.
Shahabuddin’s lawyer, senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, said the petition filed by the widow of a journalist allegedly slain by Shahabuddin’s men in May was a politically motivated one.
To this, the Bench said it would also suit the concept of fair trial if he was shifted out of Bihar.
Mr. Naphade objected, saying his client could not be made to suffer on the basis of unfounded apprehensions. He said Shahabuddin was a victim of media trial.
Additional Solicitor-General P.S. Narasimha, appearing for the CBI, also favoured the transfer of cases to Delhi.
The Bench was told by Bihar counsel that 44 cases were pending against Shahabuddin in the State, while one was pending in neighbouring Jharkhand.
