Disproportionate assets case: Lalu, Rabri acquitted
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Monday won a major legal battle when he and his wife, former Bihar Chief Minister, Rabri Devi, were acquitted in the disproportionate assets case against them.
By PTI |
PATNA: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Monday won a major legal battle when he and his wife, former Bihar Chief Minister, Rabri Devi, were acquitted in the disproportionate assets case against them.
Lalu and his wife were present when the CBI Judge Muni Lal Paswan pronounced the verdict in a jam-packed court here, sending their supporters outside into a frenzied jubiliation. The case in which the Railway Minister was accused of ammassing property worth Rs 46 lakhs above his known source of income between 1990 and 97 as Bihar Chief Minister was an offshoot of the infamous Fodder Scam.
Rabri Devi was accused of abetting her husband. Lalu was the main accused in the case while his wife was charged by CBI with aiding and abetting her husband in the alleged crime. It was this case, which had led the CBI, for the first time, to raid the official residence of the Chief Minister.
During the trial CBI, which registered the case against Lalu on August 19, 1998, stuck to its charge that he had accumulated assets of over Rs 46 lakh disproportionate to his known sources of income between March 1990 and March 1997 as Bihar Chief Minister, the defence contended the assets were all accounted for.
While 94 witnesses, including Brigadier R P Nautial, ex-director general of CRPF A P Dorai and former speaker late Radhanandan Jha, were presented for the defence, a total of 132 people, including former CBI SP of Patna, V S K Kaumudi, deposed for the prosecution.
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The FIR in the case was registered by Kaumudi under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The chargesheet was filed on April 4, 2000 by him against Lalu for allegedly possessing assets worth Rs 46,26,820 disproportionate to his known sources of income.The name of then Chief Minister Rabri Devi was included in the chargesheet for abetment of the offence under section 109 IPC read with section 13(1)(e) of Prevention of Corruption Act. Charges were framed against Lalu and Rabri Devi on June 9, 2000.
Apart from the disproportionate assets case, Lalu's name figures in as many as six cases of the multi-crore rupee fodder scam, estimated to run into more than Rs 900 crore.
Out of these, one case is pending with the CBI court here while the rest were transferred to the court of special CBI judges at Ranchi since the place of occurrence of offences was within the territory of Jharkhand state. Lalu has filed a discharge petition, while charges have been framed against him in all the five cases in Jharkhand.
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