It happens only in Bihar: Nitish Kumar's law minister Kartikeya Singh comes with criminal record

New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been facing wrath for inducting Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) Kartikeya Singh, who is allegedly involved in criminal cases, as the law minister of the state.

Singh was supposed to surrender before Danapur court on 16 August in the kidnapping case, instead he took oath as law minister in Nitish Kumar's new Cabinet in Bihar.

On 12 August, the court was granted interim protection till 1 September.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which become the Opposition party in the state after Kumar left the NDA last week and formed an alliance with Lalu Prasad's party RJD, has been attacking the new Cabinet since Tuesday when 31 ministers took oath.

There have been allegations that Singh has been absconding but his lawyer, advocate Madhusudan Sharma denied the claims and said, "He is not an accused in the matter, (and) his involvement not mentioned in the probe...no evidence found against him, (and) police proved him innocent."

Charges against Bihar minister Kartikeya Singh

Kartikeya Singh, RJD member in the Bihar Legislative Council, is accused, along with 16 others, in a 2014 kidnapping case.

The RJD MLC is charged with planning the kidnapping of a builder in order to murder him. Former Mokama MLA Anant Singh has also been named as accused in the case.

In 2014, Raju Singh, once a close aide of Anant Singh, was allegedly kidnapped over a dispute about financial transactions near Patna. He was later found by the police.

An arrest warrant has been pending against Singh and he was asked to surrender in a Danapur court on 16 August.

Singh has been booked under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 363 (kidnapping), 364 (kidnapping with intent to murder), and 365 (Secret, unjustified kidnapping with intent to imprison).

On 14 July this year, a Danapur court had issued an arrest warrant against Singh and directed the Mokama police to nab him. A copy of the order was sent to the senior superintendent of police of Patna and the Bihta police have already filed a charge sheet in the case.

Singh is a resident of Mokama and has also been a teacher by profession.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar says "not aware" of charges against Kartikeya Singh

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that he is unaware of the criminal proceedings Singh is facing. "I do not know, I have no information about this," he said.

Ex-Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad urges Patna HC to take cognisance of the matter

Former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad urging the Patna High Court to take cognisance of the serious issue pertaining to Singh.

Prasad further said that he expects CM Nitish Kumar "to show some courage" and sack Singh.

"We expect Patna High Court to take serious notice of this. I expect CM Nitish Kumar to show some courage. Kartikeya Singh should be sacked and strict action should be taken against him," Prasad said.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi said that according to an ADR report over 70 per cent of ministers in the new BIhar Cabinet led by Nitish Kumar face criminal charges against them.

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"If Kartikeya Singh (RJD) had a warrant against him, he should have surrendered. But he has taken oath as law minister. I ask Nitish, is he trying to take Bihar back to Lalu's times? Kartikeya Singh should be immediately dismissed," Sushil said.

Last week, Nitish Kumar took oath as the Bihar chief minister for the eighth time and Tejashwi Yadav was sworn in as his deputy.

On Tuesday, 31 ministers took oath in the Nitish Kumar Cabinet of which 16 are from the RJD and 11 are from Kumar's JD(U). Two lawmakers from the Congress party, one from the Hindustani Awam Morch (HAM), and one independent also feature in the state cabinet.

With inputs from agencies

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