Supreme Court to announce order on Shahabuddin bail cancellation on Friday

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will pronounce on Friday its order on the Bihar government’s plea challenging the bail granted to criminal-turned-politician Mohammad Shahabuddin in Rajiv Roshan murder case. The ruling by a bench of Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Amitava Roy came at the conclusion of arguments in which Shahabuddin’s counsel told the court that though cognisance of the case was taken on February 25, 2015, he had not been served the chargesheet till date — a mandatory requirement under the criminal law. Shahabuddin counsel on Thursday told the court that Bihar government was delaying the trial. Senior counsel Shekhar Naphade told the court that shifting Shahabuddin from Siwan to Bhagalpur Central Jail was also part of the delay. “It is a conscious attempt on their (Bihar government) part that trial should not proceed. The moment the trial starts it will not stand as there is no evidence of alleged conspiracy against me,” Naphade told the court. Countering this, the Bihar government said that Shahabuddin had challenged the order taking cognizance of the chargesheet and it is unthinkable that he could have done it without having a copy.