Judge, who sentenced Shahabuddin to life term, transferred

Siwan, Sep 22: Additional District and Sessions Judge of Siwan Ajay Kumar Srivastava, who had awarded life imprisonment to controversial RJD leader Mohammad Shahabuddin in a murder case, has been transferred to Patna.

Sources close to the judge said he had requested for transfer due to "family reasons" and not any "threat". The transfer was "routine", they added.

Srivastava has been posted in Patna in the same capacity. He had sentenced Shahabuddin to life term on December 11, 2015 after holding him guilty in the murder case of Rajiv Roshan, an eyewitness in the killing of his two brothers, using acid, at Siwan in 2004.

Terming the case "rarest of rare", the judge had awarded life sentence to the former RJD MP. On September 7 this year, the Patna High Court granted bail to Shahabuddin in the same case which paved way for his release from jail after 11 years.

His release from prison and his politically sensitive comments on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, calling him "CM of circumstances", after the release had triggered a controversy. Noted lawyer Prashant Bhusan has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against granting of bail to Shahabuddin.

The Bihar government has separately filed an appeal against the bail granted to the RJD leader. The apex court, which had issued a notice to Shahabuddin, is scheduled to hear the matter on Monday.

PTI