Court Rejects Sunil Pandey's Bail Plea
Patna: April 9, 2007
 The Patna High Court, on Monday, rejected the bail plea of former Janata Dal (U) leader and MLA from Piro in Bhojpur district Sunil Pandey in the case involving extortion attempt of an engineer besides ordering the court to finish the trial within six months.
A single division bench of Justice Seema Ali Khan that had reserved its decision on Pandey's bail petition a week ago, after hearing arguments from both sides, turned down his appeal while directing the court to conclude the trial within next six months.
Arguing on behalf of Pandey, defense lawyer Tarakant Jha said that the prosecution had failed to prove the case of extortion against the legislator beyond the shadow of a doubt and therefore his client deserved bail in the case.
Public prosecutor Shameshwar Dayal, countering the defense arguments, said that the phone records clearly indicated that the extortion demands were made from Pandey's phone. "Besides, there are more than a dozen criminal cases pending against him," Dayal said.
Pandey, who is no stranger to controversies, is accused of demanding 5 percent of Rs. 446.12 crore from the general manager of Vijay Electronics engaged in rural electrification in Bihar. The incident took place in Patna on August 24, 2006.
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