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On Tuesday, the Supreme Court asked the Bihar police why former state minister Manju Verma has not been arrested in a case related to the recovery of ammunition in a Muzaffarpur shelter home where several girls were allegedly raped. Verma’s husband was the owner of the home.
A bench comprising of Justices M B Lokur, S A Nazeer and Deepak Gupta also directed that Brajesh Thakur, the prime accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter homes sexual abuse case, to be shifted to the Patiala high security jail in Punjab from Bihar’s Badarpur jail.
The alleged sexual exploitation of the girls was first highlighted in an audit report submitted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences to the state’s social welfare department.
The Patna High Court dismissed the anticipatory bail plea filed by Manju Verma on October 9.
Justice Sudhir Singh turned down the application of Verma, against whom an FIR was lodged in August at Cheria Bariarpur police station of Begusarai district after the seizure of about 50 cartridges from her residence.
Verma had stepped down as the Social Welfare minister following the reports alleging close links between her husband Chandrashekhar Verma and Brajesh Thakur, the prime accused in the scandal. She had moved the high court after her anticipatory bail plea was rejected by a Begusarai court on August 25.
The SC on Thursday issued a notice to the prime accused in the Muzaffarpur Shelter Home case, Brajesh Thakur, to show cause as to why he should not be shifted outside of the state of Bihar in the interest of a free and fair investigation.
The Special Public Prosecutor drew the attention of the bench, also comprising of Justices Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta, to the earlier order of September 20 when the court had recorded that Thakur owns the shelter in question and such is his power and influence that the residents of the locality had not even informed about the screams of the girls that they had heard coming from the home.
When Justice Lokur considered Thakur’s transfer to a confinement outside of Bihar, Senior Counsel Ranjit Kumar, appearing on behalf of the state, sought to inform the bench that the two central jails in Bihar- Bhagalpur and Hazaribagh- are considered to be the safest, even in case of offences under the TADA.
Advocate Aparna Bhat, appointed Amicus Curiae in the matter, expressed concerns regarding the security in jail, advancing that Thakur could influence the staff in the jail, overpower them and obtain access to a means of communication.
The bench also sought to know why Chandrashekhar Verma, husband of Bihar’s former social welfare minister Manju Verma, has not been arrested for the possession of illegal ammunition recovered in a CBI raid conducted in connection with the rape case, to which Mr. Kumar submitted that the state shall file a full report.
As for the trial to be shifted out of Muzaffarpur to another district, if not to another state, the bench was of the opinion that the chargesheet be allowed to be filed first before any decision in this regard is taken. The matter is next scheduled to be heard on Tuesday.
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