The Supreme Court on Friday set aside a Patna High Court order granting bail to former RJD MP Mohd. Shahabuddin in a murder case.
A Bench of Justices P.C. Ghose and Amitava Roy ordered Bihar government to take Shahabuddin back into custody "forthwith".
The apex court said the trial in the Rajiv Roshan murder case should be "disposed off as early as possible". The Bench said it does not want to go into the merits of the case.
The order quashing the High Court decision to free Shahabuddin comes despite the Bench flaying the lacklustre performance of the Bihar government on the prosecution side. The Bench had castigated the State for its 17-month delay in conducting the trial and almost zero interest it had shown in preventing Shahabuddin from getting bail in the High Court.
Shahabuddin, who got bail from the Patna High Court in the murder case on September 7, 2016, had argued that there was a “conscious delay” on the part of the State in conducting the trial, compelling him to seek bail.
The Supreme Court order came on separate pleas by the State and the victim’s father, Chandrakeshwar Prasad to cancel Shahabuddin's bail.
Roshan, the eye witness to the gruesome killings of his two younger brothers, was also killed a few days before he was to testify in court.
PTI adds:
Meanwhile, Shahabuddin has surrendered before a Siwan court and been sent to divisional jail.
