NEW DELHI, 23 June 2005 — A court in Bihar has issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Mohammad Shahabuddin following his failure to appear before it in a criminal case. The court issued the warrant after Shahabuddin failed to respond to several summons.
Officials said the court had ordered Siwan district police chief Ratn Sanjay to arrest Shahabuddin and produce him by July 1.
Reacting to the court order, Shahabuddin said that it is not necessary for him to appear before the DM’s court personally. My lawyers were present there and it is Ok,” he said describing the order as the “highhandedness” of the District Magistrate.
Siwan District Magistrate Santosh Kumar Mal had earlier asked Shahabuddin to appear before his court in connection with a case registered under the Bihar Crime Control Act to explain his stand.
What irked Mal was that Shahabuddin attended a meeting of RJD in Patna Tuesday but did not care to appear before the court.
