The Supreme Court on Monday indirectly blamed the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar for the delayed murder trial of former RJD MP Mohammed Shahabuddin, a factor which might have helped him get bail on September 7.
“Extreme urgency? But you should have shown some urgency,” a Bench of Justices P.C. Ghose and Amitava Roy retorted when the State government pushed for urgent hearing of its petition against the grant of bail to Mr. Shahabuddin by the Patna High Court.
The Bench refused any interim relief for the families of murder victims, despite a plea by advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for Chadrakeshwar Prasad, whose three sons were allegedly killed by Mr. Shahabuddin’s henchmen.
“We do not plan to do anything at this stage,” Justice Ghose said, adjourning the case to September 28 after Mr. Shahabuddin’s lawyer and senior advocate Ram Jethmalani sought time to study the case.
Meanwhile, senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, who appeared for Mr. Shahabuddin in this hearing, said the allegations made against his client and fuelled by the media were “ugly.”
“I want to show the documents regarding the number of bails I got in the several cases foisted against me,” Mr. Naphade submitted for his client.
“He was released on September 7, but the State moved the Supreme Court only on September 16 ... Is this their urgency,” Mr. Naphade argued.
