SC shocked over Bihar cops' failure to arrest minister

The Supreme Court on Monday expressed its "shock" over the failure of the Bihar police to arrest former cabinet minister Manju Verma in a case related to sexual assault of young girls at Muzaffarpur shelter home.

"Fantastic", "too much" and "unbelievable" were the words used by a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta to describe the situation.

Verma had to step down after her husband Chandrasekhar Verma's name cropped up having been linked to prime accused Brijesh Thakur. Her husband had surrendered before the court last month in a case related recovery of illegal arms from their residence. Her plea for anticipatory bail was dismissed by the Patna High Court on October 9.

On Monday, as a state counsel submitted that Manju was not available, the bench asked state DGP to appear before the court on November 27, if she still could not be apprehended.

"We are quite shocked that former Cabinet Minister can't be traced by the police in Bihar. It is difficult to believe," the bench said.

Advocate Aparna Bhat, acting as amicus curiae, sought to highlight the fact the child welfare committee was not properly working in Bihar, the court said, "What to talk about child welfare committee, even police are not working."

The matter before the top court arose out of a petition filed by a Patna-based journalist, Nivedita Jha.