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Patna, April 28 (IANS) A CBI court in this Bihar capital Thursday granted bail to Navlesh Pathak, editor of an English weekly and co-accused in the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Raj Kishore Kesri in January, an official said.
The court granted bail to Pathak after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) failed to file a chargesheet against him within the stipulated 90 days.
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"Court granted bail after hearing his bail petition as the CBI has failed to file a chargesheet against him," the court official told IANS.
Navlesh Pathak was arrested in January in connection with the Jan 4 murder of Kesri, 51. His bail plea was rejected thrice earlier.
The CBI April 2 filed a chargesheet against main accused Rupam Pathak, a school teacher, under Indian Penal Code section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder carrying a maximum punishment of life imprisonment). She is currently lodged in Beur jail in Patna.
Kesri, a BJP legislator from Purnia constituency, was killed at his home by Rupam Pathak, who alleged that the politician had raped her for over three years, a charge the BJP refuted.
According to police, Rupam Pathak, in her mid-40s, went to Kesri's home in Purnia and stabbed him to death in the presence of a number of people.
Navlesh Pathak, editor of Purnia-based English weekly Quisling, was the first to report about Rupam Pathak's sexual harassment complaint. He was arrested after Kesri's nephew filed a complaint against three people, including Rupam Pathak.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Jan 8 ordered a CBI probe into the murder.
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