Bihar: Bail pleas of Pappu Yadav in multiple cases to be heard on Friday

The bail pleas of independent MP Pappu Yadav in multiple cases will be heard by a Patna court on Friday, his lawyer said. Yadav's bail pleas were scheduled to be heard around 11 am on Thursday, but he could be present only in the second half due to a bomb threat received by the Patna Civil Court that turned out to be hoax, the advocate said. He was granted bail on Tuesday in a three-decade old forgery case by the court, but was kept in judicial custody in separate cases, including for obstruction of police proceedings. Yadav was arrested on Friday evening from his residence by the Patna Police, after a warrant was issued against him by the MP/MLA court in connection with a 1995 case lodged under Section 467 (forgery of documents) of the IPC. The bail pleas in subsequent cases, which were expected to be heard on Wednesday, were postponed for Thursday due to another bomb threat, which also turned out to be hoax, his lawyer said. The civil court in which Yadav's pleas are pending has received three hoax bomb threats within four days – Monday, Wednesday and Thursday – officials said. Talking to reporters here, Shiv Nandan Bharti, who appeared for Yadav, said, ''The arguments (regarding his bail) will be heard on Friday. Today's court appearance was related to a 2017 case, for which he was taken into custody.'' There is another case lodged at Kotwali police station for which he is in custody, Bharti said. His lawyer also alleged that there ''seems to be a strategy'' to ''intentionally delay the process to ensure'' Yadav's prolonged incarceration. On frequent hoax bomb threats, Bharti said, ''It is a serious issue and directly impacts the reputation of the police. Certain anti-social elements seem to be exploiting this situation for their amusement..'' He asserted that the practice of closing down courts based on such messages should not continue.