Patna: Former Chief Minister of Bihar Lalu Prasad Yadav and 21 other accused in one of the infamous Rs 900 crore cases appeared in special CBI court on Tuesday fodder scam,
The case pertains to the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 46.98 lakh from Bhagalpur district treasury in the name of purchase of veterinary medicine between 1994 and 1996. According to CBI sources, this is the only case of pending fodder scam in Bihar.
The CBI had filed a charge sheet against 44 accused in this case on March 31, 2003 and an FIR was registered on May 15, 1996. Half of the accused have died while the trial is still at the evidence stage.
Lalu appeared in the court alone, while the remaining 21 other accused were represented by his lawyers.
Although Lalu, who is ill, appeared physically, he was at liberty to be represented by a lawyer from the court due to his health condition.
The other main accused, who appeared in court through their lawyers on Tuesday, include former MLAs RK Rana, Beck Julius and Federic Kerchetta.
Sources said the CBI’s Special Court-III, before which the matter is being heard, had on November 16 ordered all the accused to appear before it to know their factual position so that it can be clear who are alive and dead. .
Among the 22 dead accused, prominent names are Mahesh Prasad, Naval Kishore Singh, Phoolchand Singh, Raghunandan Poddar, former CM Jagannath Mishra and K Arumugham.
The special court has fixed November 30 as the next date of hearing in the matter. The trial of the case was hit for a long time as Lalu was unable to appear in the special court in Patna after being convicted in another fodder scam case in Jharkhand, being imprisoned in Hotwar Jail, Ranchi.
CBI sources said that there is strong evidence against Lalu in the case of taking fraudulently withdrawn money from Bhagalpur treasury.
“All the withdrawals were made on the basis of forged allotment letters and fake medical bills showing purchase of veterinary medicines,” a source said. He said that one Shailesh Prasad Singh is a government witness in the Bhagalpur case.
The case pertains to the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 46.98 lakh from Bhagalpur district treasury in the name of purchase of veterinary medicine between 1994 and 1996. According to CBI sources, this is the only case of pending fodder scam in Bihar.
The CBI had filed a charge sheet against 44 accused in this case on March 31, 2003 and an FIR was registered on May 15, 1996. Half of the accused have died while the trial is still at the evidence stage.
Lalu appeared in the court alone, while the remaining 21 other accused were represented by his lawyers.
Although Lalu, who is ill, appeared physically, he was at liberty to be represented by a lawyer from the court due to his health condition.
The other main accused, who appeared in court through their lawyers on Tuesday, include former MLAs RK Rana, Beck Julius and Federic Kerchetta.
Sources said the CBI’s Special Court-III, before which the matter is being heard, had on November 16 ordered all the accused to appear before it to know their factual position so that it can be clear who are alive and dead. .
Among the 22 dead accused, prominent names are Mahesh Prasad, Naval Kishore Singh, Phoolchand Singh, Raghunandan Poddar, former CM Jagannath Mishra and K Arumugham.
The special court has fixed November 30 as the next date of hearing in the matter. The trial of the case was hit for a long time as Lalu was unable to appear in the special court in Patna after being convicted in another fodder scam case in Jharkhand, being imprisoned in Hotwar Jail, Ranchi.
CBI sources said that there is strong evidence against Lalu in the case of taking fraudulently withdrawn money from Bhagalpur treasury.
“All the withdrawals were made on the basis of forged allotment letters and fake medical bills showing purchase of veterinary medicines,” a source said. He said that one Shailesh Prasad Singh is a government witness in the Bhagalpur case.
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