Court reserves judgement on Laloo-Rabri plea

The Patna High Court bench hearing the petition by Railway minister and RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav and former CM Rabri Devi challenging th...

The Patna High Court bench hearing the petition by Railway minister and RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav and former CM Rabri Devi challenging the sanction for their prosecution in the disproportionate assets (DA) case today reserved its judgement after completion of hearing.

The bench, comprising Justice Ram Nandan Prasad, Justice Barin Ghosh and Justice M.L. Visa, began hearing the petition afresh on Monday. The Supreme Court had directed the HC to complete hearing on the petition before the summer vacation, beginning from May 21. This was the third time the HC was hearing the duo’s petition in the DA case, an offshoot of the multi-crore fodder scam.

P.P. Rao, counsel for Laloo and Rabri, submitted that the sanction granted by the then governor A.R. Kidwai to prosecute Laloo in the Rs 42.52 lakh DA case was not valid. He argued that when the designated CBI court took cognizance of the chargesheet, the RJD chief was only an MLA and the Assembly Speaker was the competent authority to grant sanction for his prosecution.

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Additional Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran, representing the CBI, said that since the allegations against Laloo in the fodder scam pertained to the period when he was the CM and not an ordinary MLA, the governor was the appropriate authority.

Laloo blamed for blanket scam

PATNA: BJP vice-president Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday charged RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav with being involved ‘‘neck-deep’’ in forestalling a vigilance probe into a ‘‘scam’’ relating to gross irregularities in the purchase and supply of blankets worth about Rs 40 crore for BPL families in 2002. The BJP has called for a CBI probe. —PTI