SC adjourns hearing in suspended RJD MLA's rape case

The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing on the bail plea of suspended Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Rajballabh Yadav, who has been accused of rape, till Wednesday.

The suspended RJD MLA will now have to file his reply before the court, which observed that the victim's security and circumstances to depose fearlessly are paramount.

The Supreme Court had earlier on October 18 rejected the Bihar Government's plea that the suspended RJD MLA should be taken into custody so that the minor victim could testify before the trial court.

An apex court bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and N.V. Ramana, however, directed the trial court not to record the testimony of the minor rape survivor till October 24 after the state government submitted that she felt threatened with the MLA out on bail.

Earlier in April, Yadav was named as one of the main accused in the chargesheet filed by Nalanda Police.

The suspended legislator has been accused of allegedly raping a minor girl at his residence in Bihar Sharif on February 6.

The RJD suspended him on February 14, just a day after his arrest order was issued.