Bihar law minister Kartikey Singh was on Wednesday given the sugarcane industry portfolio, the cabinet secretariat department notification said.
This development comes a day before the scheduled hearing on the anticipatory bail application of the minister in the Nitish Kumar government’s cabinet.
“Kartikey Kumar is allotted the portfolio of sugarcane industry in place of law, and Shamim Ahmad gets law in place of sugarcane industry till further orders”, the notification issued by the order of the governor read.
The hearing on the anticipatory bail plea of Kumar in an abduction case is scheduled for Thursday.
He is wanted in a kidnapping case as he did not surrender in court despite arrest warrant issued on July 19 last in a kidnapping case of one Rajiv Ranjan Singh.
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He took charge on August 16, the day he was supposed to comply with the court order after failing to do so before, said a police officer, adding that the warrant issued last month had been sent to the concerned Mokama police station from the SSP (Patna) office for compliance, but it could not be done.
The Patna police had filed a chargesheet against Kartikey on September 19, 2018 under sections of 364 (kidnapping), 395 (Punishment for dacoity) 397 (causes grievous hurt to any person) 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 325 (Punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 120b (conspiracy) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), close aide of incarcerated Mokama MLA Anant Singh.
The court of judicial magistrate Ajay Kumar ordered issue of a bailable warrant against Kartikey on July 17 last and warrant was issued by the court on July 19, confirmed additional PP Rashmi Sinha, added that the court fixed the date on August 16 but no one appeared before the court.
BJP did not hold back in taking a dig at the government.
“It is just a brazen attempt to avoid shame, but people were watching how low Nitish Kumar had stooped to justify his wrongs in the new company. It shows that all his speeches on crime and corruption were a sham. Despite knowing that law had caught up with the minister, he was given law and now as a cover up he is being shifted to other department till further orders,” said BJP spokesman Nikhil Anand.
Earlier this month, the minister was made in-charge of Sheohar district despite opposition demand to remove him from the cabinet after deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and RJD chief Lalu Prasad backed him.
“The matter is in court. Let the court decide. Till that happens, there is no need for any action,” said Tejashwi.
The Patna High Court bench of justice Sanjay Priya had on February 16, 2017 rejected Kartikey’s anticipatory bail petition and directed him to surrender before the lower court and seek regular bail which shall be considered by the court below in accordance with law, without being prejudiced by the order of this court.
On November 14, 2014, a city-based builder, Raju Singh, wanted in several cases including one of a rape case at Kalkaji in the national Capital, was abducted by the then JD(U) MLA from Mokama, from his native Vajidpur area of Bihta police station in rural Patna.