Shahabuddin Bail: SC Reprimands Bihar Government For Laxity, Refuses To Stay Order

The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on the Bihar government for being in slumber and not timely opposing the release of criminal-turned-politician Mohammad Shahabuddin from jail.

Reprimanding the state government for its soft approach, a bench of justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy said that the Supreme Court will not stay the bail order at this point, and asked the government to explain why it approached the court only after Shahabuddin was granted bail in all 45 cases that he is accused of.

Shahabuddin, who was granted a bail on 7 September, served as a member of Parliament from Siwan for four successive terms between 1996 and 2008 and was imprisoned for more than 10 years over multiple cases. He is known to have close ties with the ruling establishment in Bihar, especially Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

This is not an isolated case of negligence. The coalition government in Bihar, which is often called the evil axis, has failed to maintain law and order in the state.

Famous for facilitating gundaraj, the government has not taken concrete steps to bring down the level of crime in the state. The murder of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan in Siwan, Aditya Suchdeva’s murder by a Janata Dal United leader’s son, and most recently, stabbing of a man by RJD MLA Virendra Singh’s son are examples of how mafias - in the ruling party and outside - have a free hand.

At a time when the ministers should focus on governance, they are endorsing Nitish Kumar as the next prime ministerial candidate.

No wonder why crime and violence are rampant in Bihar.