The Supreme Court has rejected the bail plea of former Jharkhand minister Anosh Ekka, an accused in the murder of a para-teacher two years ago.
A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and A M Sapre directed the Jharkhand High Court to decide the petition of Ekka against the trial court order granting pardon to Bikram Gope, an accused turned approver in the case within three months.
The apex court, however, granted liberty to Ekka to approach it once the pending proceedings before High Court was complete.
"You go to High Court and get your pending proceedings cleared. Then you can come here. We do not see a ground of bail at this stage," the bench said.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave appearing for Ekka said all witnesses have been examined in the case and he has been in custody since November 27, 2014. He claimed this was a case of political victimisation as he was the sole MLA from his party.
Ekka, the only MLA of Jharkhand Party from Kolebira constituency in the state, is currently lodged in Simdega jail and is a co-accused who is alleged to have connived with an extremist group for eliminating para-teacher Manoj Kumar.
Ekka, who was minister in Madhu Koda-led government in the state, has been booked under various sections of IPC including 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).
Bikram Gope, alias Barud Gope, a member of an extremist group who later turned approver in the case, was arrested by a Simdega police in 2015.
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