Supreme Court cancels bail granted to former RJD MP Shahabuddin

The Supreme Court cancelled the bail granted to former Rashtriya Janata Dal parliamentarian Mohammad Shahabuddin on Friday, setting aside a Patna high court order.

A bench comprising Justice P CGhose and Justice Amitava Roy asked Shahabuddin to surrender and directed the Bihar government to take steps to take him into custody.

Shahabuddin, who had been in jail for more than a decade over multiple cases, was granted bail earlier this month in connection with the murder of Rajiv Roshan, who witnessed the killing of his two brothers in Siwan.

Read | Shahabuddin back in jail after SC cancels bail: A look at his crime file

He is facing more than 40 cases, including those of abduction and murder. In the past decade, the former MP was transferred thrice to different prisons – once to Bhagalpur jail and other times to Gaya jail.

The court also directed the state government and the lower court to ensure that the trial in the Roshan murder case is concluded “expeditiously as contemplated under the law”.

The court issued notice to Shahabuddin and Bihar government on another plea seeking cancellation of bail granted to him in a murder case of two brothers of Roshan.

Read | SC rebukes Bihar government for ‘sleeping’ on Shahabuddin’s bail

The top court was hearing pleas filed by the Bihar government and the couple whose three sons were allegedly murdered by the Siwan strongman.

They said the high court had ignored the fact that the victim killed was a witness to the murder of his brothers. He was killed a few days before he was to record his evidence.

Read | RJD’s Shahabuddin walks out on bail after a decade behind bars

The Patna HC had ordered Shahabuddin’s release on the ground that the trial in the murder case will take a long time. The RJD leader had already been granted bail in the other cases pending against him, though he had been convicted in some of these.

The apex court had earlier pulled up the Bihar coalition government -- of which the RJD is a constituent -- for its shoddy approach to the case.

Shahabuddin had told the court that he was willing to move out of Bihar and stay in Delhi as a pre-condition for being on bail.

(With agency inputs)

Also read | BJP leaders blame Bihar’s grand alliance for Shahabuddin’s release