Tuesday, January 11 2005 17:19 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Counsel for RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) MP Pappu Yadav, lodged in jail in connection with the Ajit Sarkar murder case, today (Jan 11, 2005) in the Supreme Court opposed CBI's petition seeking cancellation of his bail and equated the case against him with the Sankararaman murder case against Kanchi Shankaracharya.

Appearing for Yadav, senior advocate R K Jain contended before a Bench comprising Justice N Santosh Hegde, Justice S B Sinha and Justice P K Balasubramanyam that in both cases the prosecution relied upon a retracted confessional statement of a co-accused and cited telephonic conversation as the basis for the conspiracy to murder.

The Bench, after hearing Jain and CBI, reserved its verdict on the petitions filed by CBI.

Jain said that Yadav's case stood on a better footing than that of Shankaracharya as in his case the chargesheet has been filed and requested the Court to revoke its stay on the Patna High Court order granting him bail in the case.

Appearing for the CBI, Additional Solicitor General Amarendra Saran said Yadav had filed no less than nine bail petition one after the another in the 1998 murder case and through the years have shown a reprehensible conduct by undermining the orders of the Apex Court time and again.

Assailing the last order of the High Court granting him bail within 11 days of the apex Court dismissing his plea for bail, Saran said that no new grounds have been shown by the accused to seek the relief.

Appearing for the brother of Ajit Sarkar, senior advocate Vijay Hansaria supported the agency and said the Supreme Court should cancel the bail of Yadav.