Former health minister Bhanu Pratap Shahi was finally released from jail on Monday after he was granted bail from the apex court in connection with the disproportionate asset case on May 9. After getting release order from a CBI court in Ranchi, Shahi was released from the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), where he was undergoing treatment in judicial custody.
Shahi was granted bail by the Supreme Court after he filed a petition seeking his release from the jail as he had been lodged there since long without any concrete evidence against him. He also alleged the CBI of fabricating a false case against him as they had no evidence against him.
Shahi was received by some his close relatives and supporters at cottage number 08 of RIMS. Jubilant Shahi then went directly to his parents who had especially come here Ranchi to mark this auspicious occasion.
“From here, I will go directly to my parents whom, I have not seen since a long time, and then I will go to my constituency among my people. After that, I will go to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for treatment,” said Shahi while coming out of the VIP cottage in RIMS.
Without naming anybody, Shahi said that they have been falsely implicated in the DA case under a conspiracy. “Everybody knows that the CBI has no evidence against us, still we were put in jail for so long. As soon as the fact was revealed before the court, we got bail,” said Shahi. All know who are behind everything,” he added.
“We were put in jail just on the basis of paper cuttings of the news published against us in some of the newspapers,” alleged Shahi.
A confident Shahi, however, said that he has all faith on the judiciary and will get out of this mess very soon.“I will not sit in peace until I wash out the blot put on me by the investigating agencies,” Shahi said.
Shahi has been charged of amassing huge assets to the tune of Rs. 6.99 crore, which is above 3217% of his actual income. According to the CBI investigations, Shahi had purchased 10 acres of land in Ranchi worth Rs 19 lakh in the name of his sister and niece, a flat worth Rs 22 lakh in Prabodh Tower at Shradhanand Road, Ranchi and another flat in Gurgaon.
Shahi, who had been lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail for the last 22 months, was currently undergoing treatment at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS).
Durga Oraon, a social activist also known as a crusader against corruption had first raised the matter before the Jharkhand High Court in the form of a PIl highlighting therein as to how several ministers in the State, including the chief minister owned huge properties in excess to their known sources of income.
Responding to Oraon’s petition, the court in August 2010 had referred the disproportionate asset case lodged by the state vigilance bureau against the former chief minister Madhu Koda, his former cabinet colleagues Kamlesh Kumar Singh, Bhanu Pratap Shahi, Harinarayan Rai, Enos Ekka and Bandhu Tirkey to the CBI for a thorough probe. All accept Koda are out on bail in this case.