No Bail to JMM Chief: HC

New Delhi, Mar 14 (UNI) The Delhi High Court today denied bail to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Chief Shibu Soren, sentenced by a lower court to life imprisonment for abduction and murder of his private secretary Shashinath Jha.

Rejecting Soren's petition, a Division Bench headed by Justices Manmohan Sarin and S L Bhayana said there was evidence in the case against Soren.

''There are no special circumstances warranting suspension of sentence. We are not inclined to entertain the application for suspension of sentence and we refuse to grant him the bail,'' the Bench ordered.

Soren argued that there was no evidence to prove that the body recovered by the CBI from the scene of crime was of Shashinath Jha.

But the CBI says the DNA tests on the skeletal remains prove otherwise.

Shashinath Jha was allegedly murdered as he knew about the money received by JMM MPs, including Soren, from the then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao to vote in favour of his minority government in Parliament in 1993.

UNI