Supreme Court cancelled bail of rape-accused Bihar lawmaker Raj Ballabh Yadav
Rajballabh Yadav, a Bihar lawmaker accused of raping a 15-year-old school girl, will remain in jail the Supreme Court has ordered, calling a controversial bail granted to him by a lower court a "grave error".
Yadav was granted bail by the Patna High Court last month and the state government of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had moved the Supreme Court against the bail.
The lawmaker, who was suspended from Lalu Yadav's RJD earlier this year, had surrendered a few days ago after the top court canceled his bail.
"It was not a fit case for grant of bail to the accused and grave error is committed by the High Court in this behalf," the Supreme Court said today while giving its order.
His lawyer today assured the court that the lawmaker would stay away from Bihar during the trial if his bail was confirmed, but the Supreme Court rejected that argument.
As Rajballabh Yadav had walked out of prison in October, the minor he is accused of raping at his Biharsharif residence in February this year had sent a panicked WhatsApp message to journalists hoping to reach the chief minister.
"He (Yadav) is out of jail... I am scared and afraid for my family. What will happen to them? I am already dead after what happened to me. I have nothing more to lose," the teen wrote.
Her father too had appealed against the lawmaker being set free, pointing out that he was an influential man with powerful connections. Soon after, Rajballabh Yadav had met Lalu Yadav at his residence in Patna.
The opposition BJP in Bihar has alleged that politicians linked to Lalu Yadav have been getting bail with ease ever since his party began ruling the state in partnership with Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United, after their coalition swept the assembly elections last year.
Raj Ballabh Yadav was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and his bail petitions were repeatedly rejected by a lower court, until he moved the Patna High Court, which gave him bail after six months in prison.
Earlier this year, gangster-turned-politician Mohammad Shahbuddin had walked out of prison on bail striking terror among the people who are pursuing cases of murder and other grave charges against him.
The Nitish Kumar Kumar government had challenged Shahabuddin's bail too in Supreme Court, which ordered him back in jail.
In April, Yadav was named as one of the main accused in a charge-sheet filed by Nalanda Police, after he allegedly raped a minor girl at his Bihar residence on February 6. The charge-sheet also contained the names of a woman - Sulekha Devi - and her relatives, who were accused of supplying girls to the RJD legislator.