Hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by former BJP MP from Bihar Sukhdeo Paswan, a division bench of Gauhati High Court, comprising acting Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice BP Katakey, yesterday directed the reopening of the cases and asked the government to furnish the records before next Wednesday.
Mr Paswan had filed a PIL on August 14 seeking a CBI probe or an inquiry by an independent body into the TADA cases, with Dr Sharma filing an affidavit challenging the maintainability of Paswan’s petition as a PIL.
The court fixed August 26 as the next date of hearing when the state government must furnish its records and also Paswan’s counsel to reply to Dr Sharma’s affidavit.
The cases against the minister pertain to two alleged extortion bids by Dr Sharma on behalf of the banned ULFA in 1991.
Mr Paswan claimed in the PIL that the minister had used his political influence to subvert the law.