All is not well in Bihar, says SC; pulls up police for not arresting ex-minister
New Delhi, Oct 31: "All is not well in Bihar", the Supreme Court said Wednesday and expressed displeasure over the failure of police in arresting former state minister Manju Verma -- who stepped down in the wake of the Muzaffarpur shelter home scandal -- in a case of recovery of "illegal ammunition" from her.
A bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta, which had Tuesday pulled up the Bihar Police for not arresting the ex-minister, was informed by the state that Verma was in "hiding".
"All the not well in Bihar. A former minister has gone hiding and the state does not know where its former cabinet minister has gone after her (anticipatory) bail plea was rejected," the bench said while terming it as "strange".
Manju Verma had resigned as social welfare minister in Bihar government following the Muzaffarpur case, where several women at a shelter home were allegedly raped and sexually abused, after it came to light that her husband Chandrashekhar Verma had spoken to prime accused Brijesh Thakur several times between January and June.
Her husband had surrendered before a Begusarai court in Bihar on Monday in connection with the case related to recovery of ammunition.
The apex court was earlier informed that Manju Verma's anticipatory bail plea was dismissed by the Patna High Court on October 9.
During the hearing on Wednesday, the bench was also informed that the CBI team probing the Muzaffarpur shelter home case has not been changed.
Advocate Aparna Bhat, assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the case, had Tuesday told the bench that she has got information that one of the members of CBI team probing the Muzaffarpur case has been changed despite court's specific direction that composition of the investigating team be not changed without the leave of court.
The court had also directed that Brajesh Thakur be shifted to Patiala high security jail in Punjab from Bihar's Bhagalpur jail.
The order to shift Thakur out of Bihar was passed after the CBI had on October 25 told the court that he was an influential person and was found in possession of mobile phone inside the Bhagalpur jail.
On September 20, the court had said it had come on record that Chandrashekhar Verma and his wife were in "possession of illegal ammunition of a fairly large quantity". It was not clear whether they were in possession of illegal arms as well.
The court had observed that the CBI, in its status report filed earlier, had noted that an FIR has been lodged against Chandrashekhar and Manju Verma.
"The affairs of these two need to be looked into, particularly with regard to their procurement and possession of illegal ammunition and availability of illegal weapons, if any. We request the local police in the state of Bihar to look into this aspect with some degree of seriousness," the bench had said in its order.
Over 30 girls were allegedly raped and sexually abused at the shelter home in Muzaffarpur and the issue was first highlighted in an audit report submitted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to the state's social welfare department.
An FIR was lodged on May 31 against 11 people, including Thakur, who was running the shelter home.
The probe was later taken over by CBI and so far 17 people have been arrested.
The apex court had earlier termed as "horrible" and "scary" details placed before it by CBI about the investigation into the case.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Allahabad court restrains FIR order against Gandhi
Lucknow (PTI): The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has restrained its order directing an FIR against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in connection with the alleged dual citizenship controversy.
The court will now hear the parties on whether prior notice to the accused was legally required.
A bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi, which had in Friday in an oral order observed that prima facie cognisable offences appeared to be made out against Gandhi, and permitted the Uttar Pradesh government to hand over the probe to a central agency, said it would first examine the legal position on issuance of notice before passing any direction.
The development came after the bench, before signing its dictated order, came across a full court verdict mandating that notice be issued to the proposed accused in such matters.
The court noted that none of the counsel brought this legal requirement to its attention in the earlier hearing.
ALSO READ: Argument over bike accident leads to murder, triggers mob violence, arson in Ahmedabad; 2 held
The bench has posted the matter for April 20.
The order was passed on a plea filed by Karnataka-based BJP worker S Vignesh Shishir.
During the Friday proceedings, Deputy Solicitor General of India S B Pandey produced records of the Centre relating to the citizenship controversy, while government advocate V K Singh submitted on behalf of the state that the allegations prima facie disclosed cognisable offences.
After a hearing, the bench observed that material on record indicated that Gandhi had allegedly committed cognisable offences and that the matter warranted investigation.
In his petition, Shishir alleged that Gandhi was a UK citizen and had incorporated a company, M/s Backops Ltd, in August 2003, declaring his nationality as British.
The petitioner claimed that Gandhi submitted the company's annual returns in October 2005 and October 2006 listing his nationality as British, and that the firm was dissolved in February 2009.
He sought registration of an FIR against the former Congress president under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Official Secrets Act, the Foreigners Act and the Passport Act.
The complaint was initially filed before a special MP/MLA court in Rae Bareli and was later transferred to Lucknow on the petitioner's request.
