PATNA: Even as a special CBI court in Ranchi on Saturday deferred the verdict in another fodder scam case involving jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav to March 19, the jailed leader was shifted to a hospital after his health condition worsened.
Yadav, 69, was brought to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) from Birsa Munda Central Jail at Hotwar near the Jharkhand capital as he complained of acute pain minutes after the CBI court once again put off the date of announcing the verdict in the Dumka treasury case of the Rs 1,000-crore fodder scam case.
Special CBI court judge Shiv Pal Singh, who had earlier convicted the former railway minister and Bihar chief minister in the scam’s Deoghar treasury case in December last, was to pronounce the verdict in the Dumka case (RC 38A/96) on Saturday. But the date of verdict was put off for the third time.
“Since judge Shiv Pal Singh and other trial court judges are attending a two-day training programme at the judicial academy as per Jharkhand High Court’s direction, it was officially conveyed that the judgment will be delivered on March 19,” said Yadav’s lawyer Anant Kumar Vij.
RIMS superintendent Dr SK Chaudhary said Yadav was admitted at the super-specialty cardio unit of the state-run hospital and underwent tests for a number of health complaints. He was put under the care of cardiologist Dr PK Jha and surgeon Dr Mrityunjay Sarawgi. Sources said Yadav is likely to spend the next three days at the hospital.
“He (Yadav) faces complications related to diabetes and hypertension. Due to aggravated piles, he was having pain for the past three days. He was provided the remedy for it soon after being admitted here. We have put him under observation,” said Dr Mrityunjay Sarawgi.
Yadav has been advised to take only khichri and green vegetables for the next one week, he added.
At the time of Yadav’s conviction in the Chaibasa and Deoghar treasury cases of the fodder scam earlier, his lawyers had prayed for minimum sentence for him, citing his diabetic condition and an open heart surgery he had undergone in August 2014.
His elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, former Bihar health minister, flew to Ranchi from Patna and met him at RIMS. RJD national vice-president and former Union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Yadav’s trusted aide Bhola Singh, an MLC, were beside him at the hospital.
“There was undue delay in the jail in providing an escort team and an ambulance when he (Yadav) was to be shifted to the hospital. It is sheer irresponsibility,” said Singh. With hundreds of Yadav’s supporters reaching RIMS, the hospital administration asked police to beef up security on its premises.