Happy and sad day for Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar

Friday was a day of mixed fortune for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. While in one case his wish was fulfilled, in another he suffered a set-back. Two cases were heard by different courts on the day

Sakshi Chaturvedi
Published on: 30 Sep 2016 11:06 AM GMT
Happy and sad day for Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar
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Patna: Friday was a day of mixed fortune for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. While in one case his wish was fulfilled, in another he suffered a set-back.

Two cases were heard by different courts on the day. While one of them was related to a politician-turned-don , Mohammad Shahabuddin, the other to his prohibition policy which was dear to his heart. Nitish was not directly involved in the first case but his government was . It was the government that had favoured opposition to his bail petition.

However, in the second case he was a major player. It was his dream to see Bihar "Daru free" and he had made it known before the assembly election results. Expectedly, when won the election he fulfilled the promise. He did not stop at that. He began a campaign ,after the prohibition in Bihar , in other states in favour of prohibition. putting pressure on governments in those states.

Emphasis was put on the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh where election is due next year. The aim could also be to expand his footprint, Fortunately for drink-lovers, neither did he get any support from this state nor any other,

And ,now, even the Patna High Court has gone against him. Before the court ,several political and non-political leaders had opposed the total prohibition decision. Two states, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, have recently introduced [prohibition but none has gone for a total ban.The reason given against it was that even the people who were quietly drinking and were not a threat either to the law and order machinery or the society were also punished by this law. The Court has shattered his dream.

The Patna High Court had, earlier, struck down one of the provisions of the prohibition act which allowed the police to arrest all the members of a family in whose house empty liquor bottle was found.The act has been called draconian by many others for this and some other provisions.

In Shahabuddin's case, he can derive some pleasure. He had claimed that law and order maintenance is his priority and that the success achieved on that front was his government's TRP. Free movement of the don who is facing more than 40 cases including those of murder and extortion was, therefore, a challenge. The Supreme Court has come to his rescue.

On a petition filed by a father who was one of his victims , the Court rejected all the please of his lawyer and sent him back to jail. The father, Chankeshwar Prasad, who has lost three boys and accused him of their murder had told the Court that he was a threat to the family and witnesses in the murder case.

He had submitted report of a Siwan magistrate which confirmed that he moved in and out of the jail at his will. The murder of his third son who was a witness in murder of his brothers was committed during the time when he was out of prison. The Court agreed .

Sakshi Chaturvedi

Sakshi Chaturvedi

A journalist, presently working as a Sub-Editor at newstrack.com.

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