Shahabuddin back in jail after SC cancels bail

Following the SC order, Shahabuddin surrendered before Siwan court and was later sent to jail. Prior to returning to prison, Shahabuddin took a swipe at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and said that his supporters would teach (Nitish Kumar) a lesson in the next polls. 

On the SC judgement, he said: “I respect the judiciary, I don’t care about what people say.” While on Bihar CM, he said: “I stand by what I had said earlier. My supporters will show them in the upcoming elections.” While setting aside the Patna High Court order of releasing him in a murder case, a Bench led by Justice P C Ghose said the court is quashing the bail order after considering the facts of the case and evidence on record. 

The Bench added that Shahabuddin shall be taken into custody forthwith and be sent back to Bhagalpur jail. “The state government shall take all steps to comply with the orders of the court,” it said. The court has also asked for speeding up the murder trial against the gangster-turned-politician.

Shahabuddin was granted bail by Patna High Court on September 7 in connection with murder of an eyewitness, whose two brothers had been killed by his henchmen. In the double murder case, Shahabuddin has been convicted and sentenced to life term. On Thursday, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan had argued before the Supreme Court that Shahabuddin had “walked out of jail at will” without following any rules. “The jail authorities were terrified of him,” he argued. Bhushan sought cancellation of bail of Shahabuddin on the ground that if he be enlarged on bail, then the life of the last witness, who was testify in a case, would be in danger. 

The Apex Court had earlier asked the Bihar government why it had not challenged the bail. “Why have you (Bihar) approached the court only after his release? Were you in slumber till he got bail? This is a peculiar case. But the question is what is the peculiarity with this particular case and on whose instance this peculiarity has been identified,” said the Bench.