Bihar inexplicably delayed Shahabuddin trial: SC

Supreme Court Bench was hearing a plea by the State to cancel the bail of the former RJD MP

Former RJD MP Mohd. Shahabuddin

A day after flaying the Bihar government for its lacklustre attitude which allowed former RJD MP Mohd. Shahabuddin to get bail, the Supreme Court on Thursday found that the State inexplicably delayed trial in the Rajiv Roshan murder case for over 17 months.

Mr. Shahabuddin, who got bail from the Patna High Court in the Roshan murder case on September 7, said there was a “conscious delay” on the part of the State in conducting the trial, compelling him to seek bail.

Charge sheet

A Bench of Justices P.C. Ghose and Amitava Roy went through trial court records before them and found that the charge sheet in the case was filed in February 2015.

“Trial court records show that police papers were served on the accused over a year after the charge sheet was filed. The trial court orders repeatedly direct the prosecution to furnish copy of the charge sheet to the accused,” Justice Roy asked senior advocate Dinesh Dwivedi, appearing for the Bihar government.

Mr. Dwivedi and advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing Chandrakeshwar Prasad, the victim’s father, submitted that Mr. Shahabuddin moved the sessions court in review of the charge sheet shortly after it was filed in court.

“He could not have filed for review without having a copy of the charge sheet,” they pointed out.

“So you are saying the trial court made a mistake? Please do not think we are completely unaware of trial court proceedings ... Did you not have a duty to ensure that the trial is held expeditiously?” Justice Roy asked Mr. Dwivedi.

The court was hearing pleas by the State and Mr. Prasad to cancel Mr. Shahabuddin’s bail.

Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, for Mr. Shahabuddin, argued that his client had got bail in all other cases against him. Mr. Naphade submitted that his client should not be forced to lose his personal liberty again just because the Bihar government failed to ensure that the trial was expeditiously conducted. Roshan, the eyewitness to the gruesome killing of his two younger brothers, was also killed few days before his proposed testimony in the murder case of his brothers.