Patna High Court Rejects RJD MLA's Plea For Interim Bail To Campaign In 'Danapur' During Assembly Polls
The Patna High Court last week rejected the plea of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Ritlal Yadav seeking interim bail to campaign for himself during the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. Yadav, the sitting MLA from Danapur constituency and again contesting from the same seat, had urged the court to grant him temporary release to participate in his election campaign....
The Patna High Court last week rejected the plea of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Ritlal Yadav seeking interim bail to campaign for himself during the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
Yadav, the sitting MLA from Danapur constituency and again contesting from the same seat, had urged the court to grant him temporary release to participate in his election campaign.
His constituency is scheduled to go to polls in the first phase of the elections on November 6.
Currently lodged in Bhagalpur jail in connection with cases of extortion and organized land grabbing, Yadav had filed his nomination papers while in police custody.
A bench of Justice Arun Kumar Jha, however, dismissed his criminal writ application, observing that the grounds raised did not warrant grant of interim bail. The detailed order of the court is awaited.
During the hearing, Yadav's counsel, Senior Advocate Yogesh Chandra Verma, assisted by Advocate Priyanka Singh, argued that his release was essential under special circumstances since he would otherwise be unable to campaign effectively.
Advocate General PK Shahi, on the other hand, opposed his plea as he submitted that Yadav's plea was not maintainable and that he should have approached the trial court seeking provisional/regular bail.
Against this backdrop, the Court was not persuaded and refused to grant interim bail as it noted that being a contesting candidate does not entitle a prisoner to special consideration for release.