Bihar likely to appeal in apex court against Shahabuddin's bail

Facing opposition flak, the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government is likely to challenge the bail granted to former RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin in the Supreme Court soon, officials said on Wednesday.

"The state government has decided to appeal against the Patna High Court bail to Shahabuddin in the apex court," an official said.

A ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader close to Nitish Kumar said the decision was taken in the wake of protests by opposition over the release of Shahabuddin.

He also dispelled talk of the government having been "soft on Shahabuddin, who was released from jail after 11 years. 

"It is wrong and baseless to say that the state government was soft on Shahabuddin. His release is part of a judicial process, politics has nothing to do with it," he said.

Shahabuddin, who was released from on bail four days ago in connection with the murder of a witness in the killing of two brothers in Siwan, said on Tuesday that whatever action the Bihar government wants to take, including invoking the Crime Control Act (CCA) against him, he will live in his own style.

"Sarkar agar CCA lagana chahti hai to lagaye, lekin mai apne tarike se jeeta hun (If government wants to invoke CCA against me, it can but I will live as per my style)," Shahabuddin told the media while meeting his supporters.

The opposition BJP has demanded that CCA be slapped against the former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP.