PATNA: In what signals more trouble for jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, the verdict in the second Chaibasa treasury case of Bihar’s Rs 1,000-crore fodder scam, in which he figures as an accused, is set to be delivered by a special CBI court in Ranchi on January 24.
Hearings in the case (RC 68A/96), which pertains to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 35.62 crore from the treasury in Chaibasa in undivided Bihar in the early 1990s, were completed on Wednesday. Yadav, who was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail in the Deoghar treasury case on January 6, was earlier convicted and sentenced to five years in jail in the first Chaibasa treasury case (RC 20A/96) on September 30, 2013.
“Arguments by CBI in the RC 68A/96 case were completed today and the judge, SS Prasad, fixed January 24 as the date to pronounce the judgment,” said Yadav’s counsel Prabhat Kumar. If Yadav is convicted in this case, which legal experts said seems “very likely,” it will be his third conviction in the scam that surfaced in 1996 and kept impacting the course of Bihar politics since.
Yadav, a former Bihar chief minister for two terms and also a former railway minister, has been lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail near Ranchi since December 23, when he was convicted in the Deogahr treasury case. He appeared in the special CBI courts in connection with three different cases alongside the other accused on Wednesday and looked depressed.
But the 69-year-old leader’s renowned sense of humour was intact as he asked the judge in the Doranda treasury case, Pradeep Kumar, to allow him freedom to celebrate the upcoming Makar Sankranti festival in the middle of his family and supporters at his Patna residence.
“If I were free, I would enjoy the dahi-chuda (curd and flattened rice with sugar) dishes during Makar Sankranti, Sir,” said Yadav. The judge retorted: “We will arrange dahi-chuda for you here. How much do you want?”
When Yadav complained about only three visitors being allowed to see him in jail, the judge said he could not do anything about it as only the legislature has the power to frame rules. Yadav also said the court premises remain overcrowded and he was getting pushed and pulled. The judge replied, “There have been proper arrangements for your security. It is your supporters who are thronging the court premises”.