Transfer Shahabuddin to Tihar jail for fair trial: Supreme Court
Security has also beefed up in Siwan and patrolling has been intensified near the residence of petitioners.
New Delhi: Taking a serious view of the influence of M. Shahabuddin inside the jail affecting fair trial, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered his shifting from Siwan jail in Bihar to Tihar Jail in the capital within a week.
A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitav Roy passed this order on two petitions filed by victims of Mr Shahabuddin seeking his transfer outside the State of Bihar.
Rejecting the submission of Mr Shahabuddin that his transfer will affect fair trial in the pending cases, the Bench said fair trial is not what the accused wants in the name of fair trial.
Writing the judgment Justice Misra said the grievance of the victims, who have enormously and apparently suffered deserves to be dealt with as per the law of the land and should not remain a mirage and a distant dream.
“He is an influential person of the locality, for he has been a representative to the legislative Assembly on two occasions and elected as a member of Parliament four times. This is not a normal and usual case,” the court said.
It said an accused cannot be permitted to jettison the basic fundamentals of trial in the name of fair trial.
Security has also beefed up in Siwan and patrolling has been intensified near the residence of petitioners. The transfer is to be made within a week.