New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Friday ordered Mokama MLA Anant Singh to surrender before the authorities on or before December 1, in connection with the murder of Dularchand Yadav during the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections.

A Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Prasanna B. Varale also granted the Bihar Police four months to complete the investigation into the murder case.

The directions came while hearing a plea filed by Niraj Kumar, grandson of the deceased, challenging the bail granted to Singh by the Patna High Court on March 19.

The Special Leave Petition (SLP) questioned the High Court's decision to grant relief to Singh, claiming that his criminal antecedents had not been duly considered while deciding his bail application.

Earlier, on July 13, the Supreme Court had issued notice on the plea after the petitioner's counsel submitted that Singh had not fully disclosed his 67 criminal antecedents.

Advocate Shilpi Chowdhary, appearing for the petitioner, had argued that the criminal history of Singh was a relevant consideration which had not been adequately taken into account by the High Court.

The matter was last listed on September 29, when the apex court deferred the hearing to October 30 after counsel appearing for Singh sought an adjournment to file a counter-affidavit. The apex court had made it clear that no further adjournment would be entertained.

The case relates to the murder of Dularchand Yadav, a Jan Suraaj Party supporter and former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader, on October 30, 2025, in Basawanchak village under the Ghoswari police station area of Mokama, during campaigning for the Bihar Assembly elections.

According to the police investigation, an SUV allegedly ran over Yadav, leading to his death on the spot. However, his family members claimed that he was first shot and subsequently run over by a vehicle.

Police had identified Anant Singh as the prime accused and arrested him on the night of November 1, 2025. Two of his nephews were also arrested in connection with the case.

Singh was subsequently sent to judicial custody on November 2. His earlier bail applications had been rejected by the MP-MLA court before the Patna High Court granted him relief.

Despite being in jail, Singh contested the Mokama Assembly seat and won the election.

Meanwhile, the Janata Dal (United) expelled Singh and his wife, former MLA Neelam Devi, from the party for six years over alleged anti-party activities during the recent Bihar Legislative Council elections. The party had cited alleged violations of its directives, including Singh's decision to oppose JD(U) candidate Neeraj Kumar in the Patna Graduates' constituency election and campaign for Anuj Singh, a candidate associated with Jan Suraaj.

The JD(U) has also written to the Speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly seeking action against Singh's membership under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, which deals with disqualification on grounds of defection.

--IANS

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