Patna: In a huge relief to former Bihar health minister Tej Pratap Yadav, the Supreme Court of India has thrown out a petition seeking to register a murder case against him after not finding evidence of his involvement in the case.
Reports said a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra ordered the closure of the case against the former health minister, after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said it found no evidence of his involvement in the murder of Bihar journalist Rajdeo Ranjan.
The CBI is probing the case.
Tej Pratap is the elder son of incarcerated Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad.
This is the first major relief to the family of Lalu Prasad, which has been caught in various legal wrangles.
Prasad has been convicted in three fodder scam cases in recent weeks, while his children and in-laws have also been making the rounds in the courts over various corruption cases filed against them.
The CBI had opened its investigation into the case when the slain journalist’s wife, Asha Ranjan, filed a petition in the court seeking to register a case against the RJD chief’s son, after he was caught on camera sharing space with Mohammad Kaif, her husband’s alleged shooter.
Subsequently, the top court had ordered an investigation into the matter.
Earlier in January the CBI said it found no evidence of Tej Pratap’s involvement, and filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying the latter had no role to play in the murder.
The journalist was killed in cold blood in May 2016.
The Supreme Court is currently monitoring the probe of this high-profile murder case.
According to media reports, the CBI reportedly told the court that the photograph in which the former health minister is seen in the company of a murder accused Mohammad Kaif is an old one and, except for that image, there was nothing linking to Tej Pratap to the murder case.
The court was also told that this photograph had no connection with the murder.
Kaif whom the police accused of being the main “shooter” in the case is currently out on bail. He surrendered in the court in October 2016 after which he was remanded.
But he walked out on bail after three months, as the police failed to file a charge sheet against him within the stipulated time frame.
Tej Pratap came under scrutiny after he was spotted in a photograph with Kaif.
In the photograph, which went viral on social media, the alleged shooter who was declared an absconder was seen offering a bouquet to the health minister.
The minister, however, denied any close ties with the alleged shooter saying “More than a thousand people come to meet me every day. Is it possible to recognise everyone?”
A total of six persons including former RJD parliamentarian Mohammad Shahabuddin have been made accused in the murder of the journalist by the CBI.
Of these, the alleged key conspirator Shahabuddin is currently lodged in Delhi’s high-security Tihar Jail.
