Muzaffarpur Shelter Home Case: Brajesh Thakur to be moved to Patiala jail

The Supreme Court today ordered that the prime accused in the Muzaffarpur Shelter Home case, Brajesh Thakur, be transferred out of Bihar and sent to a jail in Patiala..The Court has also sought a list of all the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials who have investigated this case since September 20, directing for the same to be furnished before the Court on Wednesday, October 31..The Bench of Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta also expressed shock at the failure of Bihar government to arrest one of the accused, former minister Manju Verma..“Just because she (Verma) was a cabinet minister doesn’t make her above the law… Why has she not been arrested? Nobody is bothered about the law,” Justice Lokur remarked..The Court came down heavily on the Bihar government for its laxity in arresting Verma and her husband, both of whom are accused in the case. The Court pointed out that even after Verma’s bail was rejected, she was not arrested by the Bihar Police..The Court pulled up the Bihar government stating that Verma’s husband was not to be found for two months, terming the lackadaisical approach of the authorities “shocking” and “a horrible state of affairs”..The Court will now hear the matter next on Wednesday, October 31..On the last date of hearing, the Court expressed shock at the findings of the CBI report in the case, stating that the main accused Brajesh Thakur should be shifted outside Bihar..The Court has said that in view of the influence wielded by Thakur, he should be shifted to a jail outside Bihar. It, therefore, issued notice to Thakur seeking his reply on why he should not be shifted outside Bihar in order to facilitate a free and fair investigation.