Rape case: SC notice to RJD MLA on Bihar plea against his bail

New Delhi, Oct 7: The Supreme Court today sought the response of suspended RJD MLA Raj Ballabh Yadav, who is facing trial in a case for allegedly raping a minor girl, on a plea by the Nitish Kumar government challenging his bail granted by the Patna High Court.

A bench of justices A K Sikri and N V Ramana issued notice to Yadav asking him to file his response by October 17, the next date of hearing. Bihar government counsel Gopal Singh urged the bench to stay the high court order and said the statement of the alleged victim was being recorded in the trial court.

However, the bench refused to stay the order and said "we have issued the notice without even asking you".

Singh had said that Patna High Court had erred in granting bail to Yadav in a heinous case like this. Yadav had allegedly raped the minor girl at his residence in Biharsharif on February 6 this year.

After evading arrest for considerable time, he surrendered after a local court issue proclamation notice and an order to attach his properties for not surrendering before the police.

The Bihar Police, in its charge sheet, has also named a woman and her relatives as accused on the ground that they had been allegedly supplying women to the suspended RJD MLA representing Nawada Assembly constituency.

The RJD suspended Yadav from the party on February 14, a day after his arrest warrant was issued. The grant of bail to Yadav created a furore in the state as opposition parties led by BJP accused the Nitish government of facilitating the relief.

The state government had come under severe criticism recently after RJD leaders like Yadav and Shahabuddin managed to get bail from the High Court in separate cases.

PTI