Patna, Sept. 29: Whispers had been abound in the RJD that top lawyer and its Rajya Sabha MP Ram Jethmalani might appear on behalf of don-turned-politician Mohammad Shahabuddin in the Supreme Court, but the rumours turned out to be unfounded.

"On Tuesday evening we were assured that Jethmalani would appear in the Shahabuddin case," said an RJD leader who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Next day, Jethmalani appeared for RJD chief Lalu Prasad in a fodder scam-related case, but that's it."

Other sources in the RJD said Jethmalani had never said he had accepted Shahabuddin's case.

"Right from the beginning, the names of three top lawyers appeared in the media for defending Shahabuddin's case but none of them said they had accepted the case," said a senior RJD leader, recalling that Jethmalani had been asked to quit the BJP when he accepted the brief of Indira Gandhi's assassins.

"He may have been requested to represent Shahabuddin. But it is entirely up to him whether to accept it or not. In fact deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav has publicly said he was unaware Jethmalani would represent the ex-MP in the Supreme Court," the RJD leader added.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad remained tight-lipped on the issue. The BJP has been taunting the Nitish Kumar government saying it was opposing bail to Shahabuddin while its ally the RJD appeared to be using its MP (Jethmalani) to defend him.

The fact that Jethmalani did not appear for Shahabuddin comes as a relief for the JDU. "Had the top lawyer defended Shahabuddin in the Supreme Court it would have proved to be a huge embarrassment for our government and dented Nitish's credibility, given his repeated proclamation that law and order was his government's biggest USP," said a JDU legislator. He also recalled how Nitish had publicly said wannabe dons would go to jail.

The Shahabuddin episode has brought ties between Lalu and Nitish to the brink with the two leaders barely talking to each other ever since the gangster-turned-politician called Nitish a "circumstantial CM" and Lalu kept mum.

Reports that Jethmalani would represent the don against the petition filed by the Bihar government pleading for cancellation of bail had further hit ties. "Now that Shahabuddin's verdict is scheduled for Friday and Jethmalani is not representing the don, the crisis before the Grand Alliance should be over for the time being," said a JDU MLC.