Controversial Bihar law minister resigns
New Delhi: In a damage control move by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar led Mahagathbandhan government, the state's law minister Kartikey Kumar Singh, who is facing arrest in kidnapping case, has resigned from his plum ministerial post on Wednesday late.
However, Singh, who was allotted a low profile Sugarcane Ministry, has also resigned from his newly alloted ministry to avoid any further embarrassment to RJD led Grand Alliance government in Bihar.
The first-timer MLC Singh's resignation has been accepted by CM Nitish Kumar.
The resignation of Singh, who is a close aide of strongman Anant Singh, has come just ahead of the scheduled hearing on the anticipatory bail application filed by Singh in kidnapping case.
It's worth mentioning that Millennium Post was the first that had reported in its August 18 edition that Singh would resign from Law Ministry after observations were raised over the issue by RJD's patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav.
The portfolio of Sugarcane Ministry has been allotted to cabinet minister Alok Mehta as an additional charge, while Shamim Ahmad has been appointed as new law minister.
The hearing on the anticipatory bail plea of Kartikey Kumar in an abduction case is scheduled on Thursday before the court of ADJ-3 of Danapur.
A controversy had broke out soon after he took the oath as law minister on the day he was supposed to depose himself before a lower court as he is wanted in a kidnapping case, but he did not surrender in the court despite arrest warrant issued against him on July 19, 2021.
The Patna police had filed chargesheet against Kartikey on September 19, 2018 under sections of 364 (kidnapping), 395 (punishment for dacoit) 397 (causes grievous hurt to any person) 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 325 (punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 120b(conspiracy) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).
The court of first-class judicial magistrate Ajay Kumar ordered issue of bailable warrant against Kartikey on July 17 last and warrant was issued by the court on July 19, confirmed additional PP Rashmi Sinha. She further added that the court had fixed the date on August 16, but no one appeared before the court.
BJP was quick to take a dig at the government. "It is just a brazen attempt to avoid shame, but people were watching how low could Nitish Kumar stoop to justify his wrongs in the new company, " said Nikhil Anand, Bihar BJP spokesperson and general secretary BJP OBC Morcha.
"It shows that all his speeches on crime and corruption were sham. Despite knowing that law had caught up with the minister, he was given law and now as a cover up he is being shifted to other department till further orders," Anand said.
