The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered RJD strongman and notorious gangster Mohammad Shahabuddin to be shifted out of Siwan Jail in Bihar to Tihar Prison in Delhi within a week and directed trial in the 45 criminal cases pending against him to be conducted through video conferencing.
Dealing with two separate petitions to shift Shahabuddin out so that witnesses could testify against him without fear, a Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy said that an accused cannot be allowed to “jettison” the basic fundamental of a criminal trial. The petitions were filed by Asha Ranjan, the widow of a scribe who was allegedly killed by associates of Shahabuddin, and Chandra-keshwar Prasad, a father whose three sons were murdered at Shahabuddin’s behest.
The Court referred to the criminal antecedants of the RJD leader and found that he was booked in 75 cases, out of which he stood convicted in 10 cases and was presently facing trial in 45 cases. “This is not a normal and usual case,” said the bench, as it directed the accused to be shifted to Tihar after giving prior intimation and strictly following the rules applicable during transit of prisoners.
While disposing off the two petitions, the Bench kept open a related issue dealing with lodging of FIR against RJD supremo lalu Prasad’s son and Bihar Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav, whose photograph had surfaced with an alleged sharp shooter close to Shahabuddin. The Bench kept the issue for April 21.