Order in 4th fodder scam case delayed

Ranchi: The judgment in the fourth case of the fodder scam against former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad was deferred on Thursday by a CBI special court after the RJD leader’s counsel filed a plea, asking that the then three officials of the accountant general be made a party to the case.

Ranchi, March 15: The judgment in the fourth case of multi- crore fodder scam against former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra was deferred on Thursday by a CBI special court after the RJD leader’s counsel filed a plea.

No date has been fixed yet for the pronouncement of judgement in the case which is related to fraudulent withdrawal of ` 3.13 crore from Dumka Treasury ( RC 38A/ 96).

Special CBI Judge Shiv Pal Singh put off the judgement in view of the counsel for Lalu Prasad yesterday filing a petition under 319 CrPC, asking that the then three officials of the Accountant General of Office in the 1990s be made a party to the case under 319 CrPC.

Mr Prasad’s counsel said he had filed the petition on Wednesday and re- submitted it on Thursday after correcting some typographical mistakes.

The court on Thursday heard the petition and would decide it on Friday, according to Prasad’s counsel. Besides Mr Prasad and Mishra, there are 29 accused, including former IAS officers and AHD officials, in the Dumka Treasury case.

Earlier, Mr Prasad was convicted in three fodder cases while Mishra was convicted in two fodder cases.

A special CBI court on January 24 this year sentenced Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra to five years in jail in a fodder scam case related to fradulent withdrawl of ` 37.62 crore from Chaibasad treasury.

Earlier this year, court had on January 6 a special CBI sentenced Mr Prasad to three- and- a- half years in jail and fined ` 10 lakh in a fodder scam case relating to fraudulent withdrawal of ` 89.27 lakh from the Deoghar Treasury 21 years ago.

In 2013, Mr Prasad was convicted in the first fodder scam case involving withdrawal of ` 37.7 crore from the Chaibasa treasury. Mr Prasad has been in Birsa Munda jail at Ranchi since December 23 last year after being convicted in the second case pertaining to illegal withdrawal of money from Deogarh treasury.