CBI opposes Brajesh Thakur's plea to suspend Rs 32 lakh fine

New Delhi: The CBI Tuesday opposed in the Delhi High Court a plea by Brajesh Thakur, sentenced to life imprisonment till his last breath for sexually assaulting several girls in a shelter home in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, seeking suspension of Rs 32.20 lakh fine imposed on him. The CBI said no prejudice will be caused to Thakur by imposition of fine as he has been convicted on multiple counts of aggravated penetrative sexual assault, conspiracy, abetment and sentenced to life imprisonment.

The probe agency said in its reply that the fine imposed is just, fair and in the interest of justice and Thakur is liable and bound to pay the amount.

The matter came up before a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rajnish Bhatnagar which noted that the CBI's reply was not on record and directed the counsel to ensure that it is placed before it.

The high court was hearing appeals filed by Thakur and co-convict Dilip Verma, then the Chairman of Child Welfare Committee, challenging the trial court's verdict.

Verma was also sentenced to imprisonment for the remainder of life by the trial court in the case.

As the trial court record is bulky, consisting of 86,000 pages, the high court asked senior advocate Mohit Mathur, appearing for Verma, and lawyer Pramod Kumar Dubey, representing Thakur, to prepare a compilation of relevant documents and file it. The bench also directed that the latest nominal rolls of both the convicts be also called from the jail and listed the matter for further hearing on September 15.

The CBI, in its reply through Special Public Prosecutor Rajesh Kumar, said the application for suspension of fine is devoid of merit and the trial court rightly convicted Thakur and there is no infirmity in the judgement.