PATNA: The Supreme Court on Thursday disposed of a criminal writ petition filed against RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s son and former state minister Tej Pratap Yadav after it was told by the CBI that there was no evidence suggesting his involvement in the murder of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan.It was the same petition through which the slain journalist’s widow, Asha Ranjan, had prayed to the apex court on September 15, 2016 to transfer ex-RJD MP Mohd Shahabuddin from Siwan jail to Tihar jail in Delhi. Accepting the prayer, the SC had transferred Shahabuddin to Tihar in February last year.However, a full bench of CJI Dipak Misra, Justice A M Khawilkar and Justice D Y Chandrachud dismissed the same writ petition’s another prayer which had demanded institution of a case against Tej for his involvement in the murderAsha’s counsel Kishlay Pandey told TOI over the phone that the writ petition was filed against Tej after a photograph featuring him and Mohd Kaif, one of the suspects, surfaced in public domain.“The CBI submitted its inquiry report in a sealed envelope to the SC on the basis of which the bench ruled that there was no strong evidence against Tej to warrant investigation,” Pandey said, adding he was yet to get a copy of the inquiry report.The SC, however, added the petitioner could move the Patna high court as and when any evidence against Tej surfaces in future, Pandey said.Rajdeo, bureau chief of a vernacular daily, was shot in Siwan on May 13, 2016 when he was returning home from his workplace. TOI was first newspaper to report that the orders to kill him had come from Siwan jail where Shahabuddin had been lodged then.The case was subsequently handed over to the CBI for investigation. The central agency last year filed a chargesheet against Shahabuddin, Kaif and others before a CBI court in Muzaffarpur. The case is currently under trial.

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