Dhanbad court rejects bail to BJP MLA Dhullu Mahto

Sindri: BJP’s state unit suffered a setback on Monday when the court of Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) refused to grant provisional bail to BJP MLA Dhullu Mahto who is lodged in jail in a case related with sexual offense. With this the chances of Dhullu Mahto taking part in Rajya Sabha elections has become bleak.
BJP needs 27 votes to see its candidate and state BJP president Deepak Prakash win in the upper house elections. The party has 25 members and the number went up to 26 after Babulal Marandi joined the party. Independent MLA Saryu Rai has announced his support to the party candidate making it 27 while AJSU-P with two MLAs is expected to side with BJP. But BJP does not want to take any risk and is trying to ensure that Dhullu Mahto votes in the election.
Dhullu Mahto filed a provisional bail petition in the SDJM court on Monday for voting in the Rajya Sabha elections but the judicial magistrate Shikha Agrawal refused to grant him bail. The MLA is lodged in jail since May 11.
According to legal experts, the MLA can take part in voting only after the court allows him and after the SDJM court has refused to grant him provisional bail, he will have to seek provisional bail from higher courts- first from Dhanbad and then from high court. And all that needs to be done in three days.