Justice Lokur asks counsel for Bihar government why former state minister has not been arrested yet in the case of sexual exploitation of shelter home girls

The Supreme Court, on Tuesday (October 30), directed that Brijesh Thakur, owner of a shelter home for girls in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, where he is alleged to have sexually exploited scores of inmates, including minors, must be transferred to Patiala Jail in Punjab “either today or tomorrow” and be kept under strict vigilance of the jail superintendent.

The order of the Supreme Court bench of Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta, came during proceedings in the case filed by Nivedita Jha, president of the Bihar chapter of South Asia Women in Media.

During arguments in the case, amicus curiae Aparna Bhat informed the bench that according to an assessment done by doctors at Bengaluru’s National Institute of Mental Health and Applied Sciences (NIMHANS), girls, particularly minors, at the Muzaffarpur shelter home were being administered hormonal drugs in the name of de-worming tablets.

The counsel appearing for the petitioner also pointed out that Manju Verma, a former cabinet minister in the Nitish Kumar government, who allegedly colluded with Thakur in his nefarious activities, had still not been arrested. The submission prompted Justice Lokur to ask senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the State of Bihar, why Verma had not been arrested yet.

Later, declining a prayer by Thakur’s counsel for granting more time to shift him to the Patiala Jail, the court said that the accused must be transferred immediately. The bench will resume hearing the case on Wednesday (October 31).

—India Legal Bureau