NEW DELHI: A plea has been filed in Supreme Court seeking transfer of controversial RJD leader Shahabuddin to any jail outside Bihar and conduct of his trials in all pending cases through video conferencing.
Shahabuddin’s bail was cancelled by top court last week setting aside the Patna High Court order granting him bail in a murder case, saying the discretion to release must be applied in “judicious manner” and “not as a matter of course”.
The plea filed by Siwan-based Chandrakeshwar Prasad alias Chanda Babu whose three sons were killed in two separate incidents, alleged that Shahabuddin’s “confinement to the prisons of Bihar has failed to deter him in any manner as he has been abusing the rules and regulations of jail with impunity in collusion with the jail administrations”.
“The Petitioner is an eye witness to the murder of his third son who has also got killed by Respondent No. 3 (Shahabuddin) as he was an eye-witness to the murder of his two brothers. The trial in the murder of third son is still pending,” the plea said.
Mr Prasad was also the petitioner on whose petition the top court cancelled the bail of Shahabuddin. His plea was also supported by Bihar government which had also filed separate plea against the Patna High Court order granting bail.
The plea said till the time Shahabuddin is in Bihar, “it is not only very difficult to have fair trial in the pending cases but there is serious threat to the life of the Petitioner as well as witnesses of other cases also”.
The plea said that till date Shahabuddin has been booked in at least 75 cases, out of which in 10 cases, he has been convicted and in at least 45 cases, he is facing trial.
“Out of 10 convicted cases, he is facing life imprisonment in two cases and 10 years rigorous imprisonment in one case. Out of 45 pending cases, at least 21 cases are those where maximum life sentence is seven years and more which include nine cases for the charge of murder and four for attempt to murder,” the plea said.
It alleged the controversial leader violated jail manuals with impunity in collusion with the jail officials and has been found to be using jail as his “personal fiefdom”.
IANS