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Supreme Court cancels Mokama MLA Anant Singh's bail in Dularchand Yadav murder case; surrender by 1 December
The Supreme Court on 30 October cancelled the bail of Mokama MLA Anant Singh in the murder of Dularchand Yadav, setting aside the Patna High Court's 19 March order. He must surrender by 1 December. The court said the High Court did not weigh the gravity of the offence or his criminal record.
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4 min
The Supreme Court on Friday, 30 October, cancelled the bail granted to Mokama MLA Anant Kumar Singh in the murder of Dularchand Yadav and ordered him to surrender by 1 December 2026. A bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and P.V. Varale set aside the Patna High Court's order of 19 March 2026, which had allowed him to walk out on bail. The order does not decide his guilt. Singh denies involvement and has called the allegations a political conspiracy.
What the court said
The bench said the High Court had committed a grave error. According to the reports, the High Court did not adequately weigh the seriousness of the offence, the nature of the allegations and Singh's extensive criminal antecedents. The appeal against the bail was filed by Yadav's family, and one report names his grandson, Niraj Kumar, as the petitioner. The court directed Bihar Police and the investigating agencies to complete the investigation within four months, and the matter will be heard after that period. One report says that Singh asked for more time to surrender because of his daughter's wedding, and that the court declined. Another report on the ruling does not mention this request.
The case
Dularchand Yadav, a former RJD leader and a supporter of a Jan Suraaj Party candidate, was killed on 30 October 2025 during a violent clash between rival political groups in Mokama Tal during the election campaign. The first information report, registered at the Ghoswari police station, alleges that Singh and his associates stopped Yadav's vehicle, dragged him out, shot him in the leg, assaulted him and ran over him with an SUV.
The post-mortem found that Yadav died of cardiorespiratory failure from severe heart and lung injuries, and not from the gunshot wound. Singh says that supporters of a rival politician, Suraj Bhan Singh, attacked his convoy.
Police arrested Singh on 1 November 2025, and he was held in Beur Central Jail. He won the Mokama seat on a Janata Dal (United) ticket in the November 2025 Assembly election while in custody. He later got bail from the High Court, which the Supreme Court has now cancelled.
Police say an SUV ran over Yadav in Basawanchak village, and his family says he was shot first and then run over. Two of Singh's nephews were also arrested. On 2 November 2025 Singh was sent to judicial custody, after the MP-MLA court had rejected his earlier bail pleas. The Patna High Court granted bail on 19 March. On 13 July the Supreme Court issued notice on the grandson's petition, and on 29 September it deferred the hearing to 30 October so that Singh's counsel could file a counter-affidavit, saying no further adjournment would be allowed.
Advocate Shilpi Chowdhary, for petitioner Niraj Kumar, argued that Singh's criminal history was relevant and had not been considered by the High Court. The petitioner's side said that Singh had not fully disclosed his 67 criminal antecedents. That figure is the petitioner's claim, and the report does not give a court-verified count of cases.
The JD(U) expelled Singh and his wife, former MLA Neelam Devi, for six years over alleged anti-party activities, after he campaigned for the Jan Suraaj candidate, Anuj Kumar Singh, and against the party's nominee, Neeraj Kumar, in the Patna Graduates' constituency election to the Legislative Council and publicly attacked the state leadership. The party has petitioned Assembly Speaker Prem Kumar to disqualify Singh under the anti-defection law.
The Bihar government then removed Neelam Devi from a State-Level Programme Implementation Committee and revoked her rank of Minister of State. On 26 October it directed her to vacate her official bungalow in Patna by 25 November.
Singh has until 1 December to surrender, and the police have four months to finish the investigation. The reports found do not say whether Singh will seek a review of the order, nor do they carry a statement from him or his lawyers on the ruling. They also do not say what will happen to the disqualification petition. Because the case is still at the investigation stage, the allegations remain untested in a trial, and the Supreme Court's order on bail does not say whether he is guilty or innocent of the charge.
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4 min
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