Former Mokama MLA Anant Kumar Singh
Credit: PTI photo
Patna: The Patna High Court on Wednesday set aside the conviction of former Bihar MLA Anant Kumar Singh, in two cases of similar nature which had earned him sentences of 10 years each.
In separate orders, Justice Chandra Shekhar Jha allowed appeals of Singh challenging the orders of MP/MLA court, Patna, passed in June and July.
Singh is now expected to walk out of jail.
A gangster turned politician who had represented the Mokama assembly seat several times, Singh had faced disqualification following the first order of conviction passed in June 2022, relating to a case lodged after an AK-47 rifle, ammunition and two hand grenades were recovered from his ancestral residence two years earlier.
The second case, in which the order came in July 2022, related to the recovery of an INSAS rifle recovered in 2015 from the government-allotted Patna residence of the MLA.
The court noted that the MLA was in jail when the raid was conducted at his Patna residence and that "none of the prosecution witnesses" suggested that he was aware of the presence of the items at the premises.
As regards the recovery of the AK-47 rifle, grenades and other items from the Mokama residence, the court pointed out, among other things, the prosecution's failure to "bring on record whether the convict/appellant visited the premises soon before" the items were seized from the "locked" compound.
Singh's wife Neelam Devi, who now represents Mokama, had won the seat on a ticket of RJD, with which her husband too was associated. A few months ago, however, she crossed over to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U).
"My client has secured bail in all other cases. With the honourable high court setting aside his conviction in the two cases, we are looking forward to his release at the earliest," said Sunil Kumar, Singh's lawyer.
Incidentally, Singh had also alleged political witch-hunting in the Mokama case, underscoring the fact that his wife had contested against Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan, senior JD(U) leader and Union minister, who represents Munger Lok Sabha seat under which the assembly segment falls.
Singh had also cast doubts over the investigation carried out by the then Additional Superintendent of Police Lipi Singh, whose father RCP Singh was then a top leader of the JD(U) and went on to enjoy a brief tenure in the Union cabinet.
During the Lok Sabha elections, Singh had been out on parole, granted on medical grounds. His presence in Mokama during the period and declaration of support for Lalan is believed to have played a role in the JD(U) leader's comfortable victory from Munger for a second consecutive term.
Meanwhile, leader of the opposition in assembly Tejashwi Yadav trained his guns at the JD(U) over the development.
"When Anant Singh was with us, he was a criminal. Now that he is with Nitish ji, he has ceased to be an outlaw. It is for the people to judge the chief minister's claim that he frames none and shields none," the RJD leader told reporters.