SC to Bihar: why such hurry to let off Taslimuddin

The Supreme Court today took serious exception to the hurry with which the Bihar government had moved to withdraw a criminal case against Un...

The Supreme Court today took serious exception to the hurry with which the Bihar government had moved to withdraw a criminal case against Union Minister Taslimuddin, and restrained the trial court from proceeding further on the issue. It also issued notices to him, the Bihar government and the Centre in this regard.

The interim order was passed by a bench comprising Justice N Santosh Hegde and Justice S B Sinha on a PIL filed by the Delhi Study Group (DSG). It pointed out that the prosecution had moved to withdraw an attempt to murder case against Taslimuddin after he became a minister, though the case had been pending since 1996.

Expressing its anguish over the matter, the SC bench asked: ‘‘Does this not show extraordinary interest on the part of the government? What is the mortal hurry in the hearing of an application seeking withdrawal of the case? What is the mortal urgency to withdraw the case?…A case which was kept pending…why did the government choose to move so fast? Does this happen to every accused in the country?’’

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DSG counsel Mukul Rohtagi said the application for withdrawal was moved late on August 14, the file transferred to a magistrate and the arrest warrant stayed—all in the same day.

However, the SC refused a plea by the petitioners to vacate the stay granted by the trial court at Araria on the operation of the arrest warrant issued against the minister.

The Indian Express had carried a story talking to the complainant in the case, who admitted he had no choice but to sign a compromise petition as all witnesses had turned hostile (‘How a Taslimuddin case collapses in Bihar, August 16).

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