Doranda treasury case: Lawyers of Lalu, others seek adjournment

RANCHI: Citing difficulty in arguments on virtual mode due to voluminous documents and high number of witnesses to be examined, lawyers of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and other co-accused have prayed before the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court here to adjourn the hearing in Doranda treasury case related to fodder scam till it begins hearing in physical form.

The prosecution completed its arguments in the case August 7, while the defence was to crossexamine witnesses next. However, lawyers of 89 out of the 110 accused currently on trial in the case on Monday prayed before the court to defer the hearing.

The special court has directed the CBI to file its reply by August 11, the next date of hearing.

The case is related to fraudulent withdrawal of ₹139.35 crore from Ranchi’s Doranda treasury in 1995-96. Of the different fodder scam cases, the aforesaid case is the biggest, as it involves the maximum number of accused (170), highest amount of alleged defalcation money and highest number of prosecution witnesses. Seventy of the accused died during the course of trial. “The prosecution has produced 570 witnesses and around 4,000 documents. We have prayed before the court that it would be difficult for the defence to make its arguments in virtual mode,” said Prabhat Kumar, Prasad’s counsel.

CBI counsel BMP Singh, while refusing to share details of their reply, said they will oppose the defence plea.