BIHAR on the path of justice

Patna, Feb. 14: Pappu Yadav would probably never forget his brash celebrations at Beur jail, soon after his release in 2004.

Next morning papers splashed news of his “party” in the jail forcing Patna High Court to take suo motu action and order fresh arrest. In 2005 he was arrested again and sent to Tihar jail and since then RJD’s Madhepura MP has been in the premier prison.

Yadav, who was today taken to a special CBI court in a wheelchair, can take heart from the incarceration of fellow RJD Siwan MP, Mohammed Shahabuddin, sentenced to life for two cases involving kidnapping and assault.

Pappu’s arch rival and former Sheohar MP Anand Mohan suffers a worse fate. He was sentenced to death in the G. Krishnaiah murder case. At present, Mohan is lodged in Bhagalpur central jail fasting intermittently to demand the status of a divisional prisoner. Pappu’s “comrade-in-arms” Rajan Tiwari is also in Beur.

JD(U) legislator Munna Shukla and his wife and former MP Lovely Anand, have been sentenced to life in Krishnaiah case. They might be out on bail, but they are within bounds of laws. A fast-track court also convicted former state minister Aditya Singh in connection with a 2006 murder case.

Convictions of Bihar’s famous politicians and lesser-known ones in two years have rattled Bihar politics. While none directly criticises the verdicts, they do find the convictions an “ominous sign”.

But, there are others who laud the move. Bihar Congress spokesperson Premchand Mishra believes it is high time that Bihar parties disallowed “criminals” in politics.

CPM state secretary Vijay Kant Thakur lauds the court verdicts. “Our party had long waited for the Sarkar verdict. Wrong acts catch up with perpetrators sooner than later,” he says. Between January 2006 and May 2007, 11,665 criminals have been convicted through speedy trials. More than 2,500 were sentenced to life and 21 others were awarded death.