RJD chief Lalu Yadav (File)
A special CBI court on Friday said that it will pronounce the the judgment in the fourth case of multi-crore fodder scam on Saturday. It also allowed a petition filed by RJD chief and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Yadav seeking the then accountant general (AG) of Patna and two other junior officers be summoned as accused in the case. Lalu Prasad, former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra and 28 others are accused for fraudulent withdrawal of around Rs 3.5 crore from Dumka Treasury by officials of the animal husbandry department (AHD).
Earlier, the court had fixed March 15 as the date for pronouncing judgment in the case. However, on March 14, the RJD leader’s counsel filed the plea seeking that the then accountant general (AG) P K Mukhopadhayay, senior AG Pramod Kumar and Deputy AG B N Jha be summoned as accused in the case under Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). While Mukhopadhyay and Jha have retired, Kumar is still in service. The CrPC Section 319 is invoked when it appears to the court, on the basis of record, that a person, who has not been arrayed as accused in a case, appears to have been involved in the offence under trial.
Yadav, in his petition, had argued that during the period under consideration (1991-1996), during which the alleged offence related to Dumka treasury occurred, the AG had not filed a single report pointing out any fraudulent withdrawal. Also, the role of AG was not probed by the Investigating Officer of the case. However, the CBI had opposed the petition saying the defense had already approached the High Court on this issue, but the latter had disposed of the matter, without passing any order to this effect.
Special CBI judge Shivpal Singh allowed the petition noting there was “great negligence on the part of the AG who never warned the government on the fodder scam that had been occurring since long and continuously.”
Yadav’s counsel, Prabhat Kumar, said: “The court has asked us to submit a report with regard to sanction for prosecution against the persons named in our petition and submit a report before it after one month (April 16).”
Prasad has been lodged in the Birsa Munda jail in Ranchi since December 23 last year after being convicted in the second case pertaining to illegal withdrawal of money from the Deogarh treasury. A fifth case relating to alleged fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 139 crore from Doranda treasury in Ranchi is pending with the court.