Muzaffarpur Shelter Home case: HC dismisses ex-Bihar minister Manju Verma's bail plea

Patna, Oct 9: The Patna High Court on Tuesday dismissed an anticipatory bail petition filed by former Bihar social welfare minister Manju Verma in connection with the recovery of cartridges from her in-laws' place during a CBI raid as part of the probe into the Muzaffarpur shelter home sex-scandal case.

Verma approached the high court seeking anticipatory bail after the Begusarai civil court dismissed the bail petitions filed by her and her husband Chandrashekhar Verma in the case on August 25.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had on August 17 raided 12 places in four districts of Bihar, including the residences of Manju Verma in Patna and her in-laws' place in Begusarai, in connection with the sexual abuse of minor girls in a state-funded shelter home run by an NGO in Muzaffarpur.

The CBI had registered an FIR on August 18 against Verma and her husband in connection with the recovery of 50 live cartridges from her in-laws' house at Arjun Tola village.

Verma had resigned as the social welfare minister following a disclosure that her husband had spoken to the prime accused in the scandal, Brajesh Thakur, 17 times between January and June this year.

The shelter home scandal came to light two months ago when an FIR was lodged by the social welfare department, following a social audit report submitted by the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences, which mentioned sexual abuse of girls lodged at the Muzaffarpur shelter home.