Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on November 23 appeared before a special CBI court here in connection with a fodder scam case related to fraudulent withdrawal of money from the treasury in 1996.
Mr. Prasad pleaded for exemption from physical appearances as he had a long history of ailments. Special court judge Prajesh Kumar granted him the relief saying his lawyer could represent him from the next hearing.
Earlier, the special court had asked all 28 accused, including Mr. Prasad, to appear in the court on November 23. The court fixed November 30 as the next date of hearing.
Fraudulent withdrawal
The case pertains to a fraudulent withdrawal of ₹46 lakh from the Banka treasury in 1996. The CBI had named 44 as accused. However, over half a dozen of them have died during the trial.
Barring this case, all fodder scam cases have been filed in Jharkhand, which was bifurcated in 2000 from Bihar to become a separate State. The cases were registered against fraudulent withdrawal of money from the Chaibasa, Dumka and Deoghar treasuries of Jharkhand.
Mr. Prasad is on bail and has been recuperating at the residence of his elder daughter Misa Bharti in New Delhi.
He arrived in Patna on November 22 for the hearing.
Recently, he visited the city to address public meetings in connection with the bypoll but his health deteriorated and he returned to Delhi for medical attention.
Ex-CM raps Nitish on prohibition
Before leaving for Patna on Monday, Mr. Prasad took on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for “failure of liquor prohibition” in Bihar and asked him to withdraw the stringent prohibition laws.
“I had earlier told Nitish Kumar that liquor prohibition will not be successful as it is freely available in neighbouring States and Nepal but he assured me that he will implement it strictly. Now, the State administration has failed in controlling supply of illegal liquor while Nitish Kumar is sending police into the rooms of women to search for liquor”, Mr Prasad alleged while addressing presspersons in Delhi.
The police in Patna had recently entered the rooms of a bride and her family members staying in a hotel for the wedding ceremony, to search for liquor bottles. The police action had gone viral on social media and invited ridicule from Opposition RJD leaders.
