Shahabuddin case exposes Bihar govt, gulf widening between Nitish, Lalu: Sushil Modi

Welcoming the Supreme Court's decision to cancel former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Member of Parliament Mohammad Shahabuddin's bail, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Bihar's former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi the Bihar Government has been badly exposed in both Shahabuddin and liquor ban cases and also drew huge criticism.

In Shahabuddin case, Modi said, the Supreme Court proved that how the Bihar Government was making efforts to save him (Shahabuddin). "Nitish Kumar (Bihar Chief Minister) has formed an alliance with such a party that you forget about expelling Shahabuddin, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) did not even suspend him," he said.

Stressing that unless Shahabuddin is lodged in Tihar Jail and all the cases against him have been shifted outside Bihar, it won't make any difference, Modi alleged, "On this matter, the Nitish Government has maintained a stoic silence instead of praying to the apex court that Shahabuddin should be kept outside Bihar and should be tried outside the state."

Modi further said, "Whether he is in a Bihar jail or outside it, no witness, or police or the Nitish Government could dare to speak against him. It was his terror that even the lawyer could not argue against him in the court. When the case was in the Patna High Court many lawyers refused to become the Bihar Government's counsel, because people don't have gusts to fight against Shahabuddin's terror."

Asserting that how insolent he is that Superintendent of Police (SP) and District Magistrate (DM) were sitting at his residence and he wore a helmet and moved out of the back door to surrender in the court, Modi said, "He wanted to show that he would not come into the hands of police and would surrender at his will."

When asked whether he thought that the cancellation of Shahabuddin's bail would creat a rift in the Grand Alliance, the former deputy chief minister said, "A gulf has already been created as the RJD is solidly standing with Shahabuddin, otherwise Nitish Kumar would have pressurised Lalu Prasad to expel him from the RJD. If Lalu Yadav can get Anant Singh expelled from the Janata Dal(United) by pressurising Nitish Kumar, why cannot Nitish Kumar do it?"

"The gulf has widened and it will be widening further. Shahabuddin has threatened that his people would see Nitish Kumar in the next election," Modi added.

Earlier today, a division bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh and Justice Amitava Roy, set aside the order of the Patna High Court that had granted bail to Shahabuddin and ordered that he must be taken into custody immediately.

After surrendering in the Siwan district court, Shahabuddin asserted that he respected the order of the apex court, but warned that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would get a fitting response from his supporters in the next elections.

Shahabuddin said that he learnt about the cancellation of his bail through other people, as he is yet to receive the order.

"I surrendered here the moment I heard about the court's decision from people. I will abide by it as I have always respected the Supreme Court's order," he said.

When asked if he had faced this massive setback since he had criticised Nitish Kumar and spoke against the Bihar government, Shahabuddin said he never afraid of speaking "the truth" and that his "supporters would give a firm response to the Chief Minister in the next polls" in the state.