Bihar contests bail to rape accused MLA, SC reserves ruling

The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its order on the Bihar government's plea seeking cancellation of bail granted to RJD legislator Rajballav Prasad Yadav, who is to stand trial for raping a minor in February this year.

Reserving the order, the bench of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre said: "We are concerned with fair trial, because it is a case filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POSCO) and a child is also involved. We are not going to dismiss the petition (by Bihar government) because we want fair trial."

The court said that it would pronounce its order in a couple of days.

The apex court said this as it was told that on its direction, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) lawmaker from Nawada was sent back to jail for two weeks and the period was coming to an end.

The court on November 8 ordered Rajballav to surrender so that the victim girl could record her statement before the trial court.

The court reserved its verdict on the bail plea even as senior counsel Dushyant Dave, who appeared for Rajballav, tried to assure the bench that he would stay away from Bihar until the trial in the case of minor's rape is complete.

However, this was opposed by senior counsel Gopal Subramanium, who said that there are many important witnesses, including the doctor who had examined the victim, to depose before the court which was trying the case.

Subramanium told the bench that Rajballav's second bail plea before the Patna High Court, in which he was granted the bail, should have come before the bench that had rejected his first bail plea.

The Bihar government had moved the apex court against the grant of bail to Rajballav by the Patna High Court in September.

He was accused of raping the girl at his residence in Bihar Sharif, and was suspended from the party after the incident came to light.

However, he continues to be an RJD lawmaker in the state assembly.

Rajballav, who was denied anticipatory bail by a local court in Bihar Sharif in February, was on the run but later surrendered in the court in March.

He was granted bail by the high court on September 30. Yadav was named one of the five accused in the chargesheet filed in April.

Besides Rajballav, Sulekha Devi and those accused of providing women to the RJD lawmaker for sex were named the accused.

--IANS

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