Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani is likely to appear on behalf of convicted leader Mohammad Shahabuddin in the Supreme Court on September 26 when it hears his bail cancellation plea.
A bench comprising Justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy on September 19 sought response from Shahabuddin on two petitions challenging the bail granted to him by the Patna High Court.
The bail granted to the jailed leader, convicted and sentenced to life term in another case, had kicked off a slugfest between the two ruling alliance partners - RJD and JD(U).
“We want to give him a hearing before passing any order,” the bench had said, and asked the Bihar government to serve notices to Shahabuddin on the appeals challenging the bail and stay of the high court order.
Sources said Shahabuddin eventually approached Jethmalani, who was elected as a Rajya Sabha member from Bihar on an RJD quota earlier this year, besides two other top-notch apex court lawyers.