Bihar minister in dock quits hours after stripped of law dept; court rejects bail

The resignation has been accepted and forwarded to the Governor, said a statement from the chief minister’s office.

In a blow to Bihar minister Kartik Kumar, who resigned late Wednesday evening hours after being stripped of law portfolio, a Danapur court rejected his anticipatory bail petition on Thursday evening after a day-long hearing in a 2014 abduction case in which he had been facing an arrest warrant.

RJD leader Kartik Kumar’s counsel Janardan Rai interacts with the media outside Danapur court in Patna on Thursday. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

The former minister’s lawyer said they would move the Patna high court.

Kumar, an RJD MLC (member of legislative council), had assumed office as the law minister in Nitish Kumar’s new government on August 16.

The resignation has been accepted and forwarded to the Governor, said a statement from the chief minister’s office.

Revenue and land reforms minister Alok Kumar Mehta has been given the additional charge of the sugarcane department, officials said.

According to political leaders familiar with the matter, Kumar’s continuance in the state cabinet had become a sore point between two main constituents of the ruling alliance — chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) and Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) — in the face of constant attacks by opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“The issue was discussed at the cabinet meeting held on August 30 where CM Kumar and deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav were present. After the meeting, there were discussions in the RJD camp as how to handle the odd situation,” said a senior leader of the ruling Grand Alliance, who did not wish to be named.

Ailing RJD chief Lalu Prasad was not keen on removal of Kartik Kumar and suggested that a change of portfolio of from law to sugarcane would be enough, prompting the reshuffle in cabinet portfolios late evening on August 30, HT has learnt.

However, RJD and JD(U) leaders went into a huddle on August 31 when legal opinion sought on a likely outcome of Kartik Kumar’s anticipatory bail on September 1 did not sound positive. This led to a unanimous view that the minister should step down so that the government does not face a major embarrassment.

Kartik Kumar, after resigning on Wednesday night, himself told reporters that he had taken the decision to save the party’s image as well as the chief minister’s even as he accused the BJP of trying to tarnish his image through media trial.

“BJP is certainly not happy with a Bhumihar as minister,” he said, referring to his politically influential caste group.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi, who has been vocal in raising the issue of a pending arrest warrant against Kartik Kumar, said on Thursday, “This was the first wicket. Many more will fall in over time.”

“Lalu Prasad earlier said Sushil Modi was speaking lies. Now the court has made everything clear,” he said.

The Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), key constituents of Bihar’s ruling Grand Alliance, had also urged CM Kumar and his deputy to review the decision to appoint Kartik as a minister.

In 2020, Mewalal Choudhary had to resign from the post of education minister three days after taking charge following the formation of NDA government. The RJD, which was then in the Opposition, had raised an outcry that Choudhary was facing corruption charges in appointment of vice chancellor of Bihar Agricultural University.

Choudhary died in 2021.