Nitish government trying to bluff people on Shahabuddin, says BJP

Targeting the Janata Dal (United)-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD-JDU) led Nitish Kumar government in Bihar over the Mohammad Shahabuddin case, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday said the state government is trying to bluff the people by filing a case before the Supreme Court to rebuild its image in the eyes of the public.

"The chief minister of Bihar is trying to bluff the people. They are doing drama. They are just trying to rebuild their image in front of public. Prashant Bhushan has filed a case against Shahabuddin in court before the Bihar government. They have just walked on his footprint and to save their image, they have filed a case against Shahabuddin," claimedBJP leader Ashwini Kumar Choubey.

Choubey said that if the Nitish government was so concerned about the matter, then why didn't they file cases against those ministers who were seen welcoming Shahabuddin when he came out of prison.

The Bihar government filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Friday, challenging the Patna High Court's order of granting bail to Shahabuddin.

Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan also filed a petition before the top court pleading for cancellation of bail granted to Shahabuddin who walked out of the Bhagalpur jail last week after eleven years.

Siwan native Chandrakeshwar Prasad also filed a petition before the apex court seeking cancellation of Shahabuddin's bail.

The court will hear Prasad's plea on September 19.

Shahabuddin, who had been in jail for more than 10 years in connection with multiple criminal cases, was granted bail by the Patna High Court on September 7 in connection with the murder of a man who witnessed the killing of two brothers in Siwan.

Shahabuddin's release from jail evoked widespread criticism of the Mahagatbadhan Alliance in Bihar, with the opposition accusing the state government of facilitating the former's release by not opposing the bail strongly in the court.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has said that the controversy over Shahabuddin getting bail has been created by the BJP and the media and the matter should be decided only by the courts.