RANCHI: The special CBI court here on Wednesday deferred announcement of the quantum of punishment for
Lalu Prasad by two days saying it would carry out such pronouncements in alphabetical order. Alphabetically, the former Bihar chief minister's name comes at sixth in the list of 16 convicts who are to be sentenced along with him in the
fodder scam case.
Lalu and other convicts were brought to court at 10.30am. The special CBI court of Shiv Pal Singh decided to hear the arguments on the quantum of punishment in the second half of the session. The death of an advocate, Vindheshwari Prasad, also led to changes in the schedule of the court proceedings. An association of advocates abstained from work as a mark of respect for their departed colleague.
The court, nevertheless, served contempt notices on Lalu's son and leader of opposition in the Bihar assembly
Tejashwi Yadav, RJD national vice-president
Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari and Congress leader Manish Tiwari. It asked them to explain by January 23 why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them for speaking in public against its verdict.
In response to the notice, Singh said he never commented on the court's verdict. He added, "There is no such record. I had commented on
Narendra Modi and the NDA in relation to the bail given to Jagannath Mishra (former Bihar CM), which Lalu Prasad wasn't granted."
Tiwari said people often speak on court orders. Tejashwi was not available for comment. He had earlier said if Lalu could be held guilty in the fodder scam why
Nitish Kumar should be spared in the Srijan case.
