The Patna high court on Tuesday ordered state-owned telecommunications agencies BSNL, MTNL and NIC to assist the Bihar government in arranging trial by video-conferencing of the controversial Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Mohammed Shahabuddin at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi.

The court said that since the Bihar government has in the past pleaded that it could not make arrangements for videoconferencing, as it was expensive, it directs Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd and National Informatics Centre to provide all assistance.

The Siwan MP was on Saturday operated on for a spinal problem and would require 10-15 days to recover.

Justice Sinha directed the AIIMS authorities to provide a report on the recovery of Shahabuddin.