Inquiry on officers who called RJD chief’s judge

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered a probe into allegations that the district magistrate and sub- divisional magistrate of Jalaun had called up CBI special Judge Shivpal Singh to seek favours for RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam case.

According to Mr Mrityunjay Kumar, media advisor to the chief minister, the inquiry has been handed over to commissioner, Jhansi division, Amit Gupta, to probe alleged claims made by the two officers concerned, who have maintained that they had discussed nothing but matters related to a land dispute in Jalaun.

During the proceedings of the case on January 4, the CBI judge had said “Laluji, we are getting a lot of references and calls for you”, without naming the people who had called him up. Mr Yadav was awarded a three- and- a- halfyear jail term and a fine of ` 5 lakh.

Later, media reports suggested that the district magistrate of Jalaun and the sub- divisional magistrate had called up the CBI judge to plead for Mr Yadav.

However, Jalaun DM, Mannan Akhtar, has refuted the allegations.

“I have never spoken to CBI special Judge Shivpal Singh over the phone. I have been here ( Jalaun) just for four months and he had come to meet us in November in connection with his land dispute in the district. Nothing else was discussed,” he said.