Shahabuddin bail: SC reserves order on pleas

NEW DELHI: Gangster-turned-RJD leader Mohammad Shahabuddin told the Supreme Court on Thursday he was willing to move out of Bihar and stay in Delhi as a precondition for being out on bail.

Arguing before a bench headed by justice PC Ghose, senior counsel Shekhar Naphade also accused the state government of delaying the former MP’s trial in the 2014 murder case. He claimed his client was denied the chargesheet in the case.

“No case is made out against me. I have a fundamental right to early trial. This order is tainted with malafide. Whether judicial or administrative order is passed, I have to be heard,” Naphade told the bench, which pulled up the Nitish Kumar government for violating the criminal procedure code.

After hearing the matter, the bench reserved its verdict and said it will deliver it at 1pm on Friday.

The victim’s father and the state government challenged grant of bail to Shahabuddin on the ground the HC had ignored the crucial fact that the man killed was a witness to the twin murder case of his brothers. He was murdered a few days before he was to record his evidence.