HC Admits Plea Challenging Lalu, Rabri's Acquittal in DA Case
Patna: March 20, 2008
In a political and personal setback for the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife and former Chief Minister of Bihar Rabri Devi, the Patna High Court on Thursday admitted the state government’s appeal challenging the acquittal of the Yadavs by a CBI court in the Disproportionate Assets (DA) case, an offshoot of the multi-crore rupees fodder scam.
Justice R. K. Dutta, rejecting the defense's plea to throw out the Bihar government's plea to reopen the DA case, directed the CBI court that had acquitted the duo in 2006, to provide all relevant documents that led to their ultimate exoneration.
It may be recalled that the NDA government in Bihar, on February 19, 2007, had moved the High Court challenging the acquittal of Lalu and Rabri citing irregularity in the appointment of the CBI judge Muni Lal Paswan in 2006 who eventually exonerated the husband-wife duo in the Rs. 46-lakh DA case.
Representing the Yadavs, veteran lawyer Ram Jethmalani described the reopening of the case as 'witch-hunt' by his political opponents.
The case is now likely to move to the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated criminal case, the High Court ordered proceedings against the CBI judge Muni Lal Paswan asking the state government to freeze his retirement pension on charges of accepting bribe in a case that resulted in the bail of a convicted criminal in Danapur.
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