SC stops Ranchi court’s verdict in fodder scam case

The Supreme Court Tuesday restrained a Ranchi court from delivering its verdict in a fodder scam case in which RJD chief Lalu Prasad is accused of embezzling Rs 35 crore when he was Bihar’s chief minister. The Ranchi court was expected to deliver its verdict on July 15.

Admitting Prasad’s appeal,a bench led by Justice P Sathasivam sought the CBI’s response to his plea seeking transfer of the trial to another court. Prasad fears he won’t get a fair trial since the CBI judge was related to P K Shahi,the education minister in the Nitish Kumar government. “My biggest political enemy is Nitish Kumar,” Ram Jethmalani,appearing for Prasad,said. He alleged the trial judge had dropped a number of witnesses cited by Prasad.

Giving the CBI two weeks to reply,the bench said the issues raised by Prasad required scrutiny and added that if the CBI reasonably refuted the charges of possible bias,the court would dismiss the petition. It will now hear the case on July 23. Prasad approached the apex court after the Jharkhand High Court dismissed on July 1 his plea to transfer the case to any other CBI court.

Prasad was named as an accused in five fodder scam cases in 1997,along with nearly 40 others. In this case,he is accused of withdrawing Rs 35 crore illegally from the Chaibasa treasury.