After cancelling the bail granted to Rashtriya Janata Dal member of Parliament Pappu Yadav in the Ajit Sarkar murder case, the Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned till February 1 the hearing on a plea for shifting him from Beur Jail in Patna to a prison outside the state.
A Bench, comprising Justice N Santosh Hegde and Justice S B Sinha, deferred the hearing after listening to the arguments of Additional Solicitor General Amarendra Saran, who appeared for the Central Bureau of Investigation, and senior advocate R K Jain, who appeared for Yadav.
Saran narrated the sequence of events and the antics of Yadav both inside and outside the jail. He also supported a plea from Ajit Sarkar's brother seeking the shifting of Yadav outside Bihar.
Giving the names of six jails four of them in Tamil Nadu where Yadav could be transferred, the additional solicitor general said this would ensure a free and fair trial.
Opposing this contention, Jain cited a Supreme Court judgment, which barred shifting of convicted criminals to a distant prison, as it would affect his meeting with relatives.
He said Yadav was still an under trial not convicted in any case and contended that his shifting would be violative of his fundamental right to life and liberty.
The Bench asked how could the court remain a mute spectator to the antics of Yadav, both inside and outside the prison, in defiance of court order, and not be bothered about the right of the society.