Shanti Bhushan blasts Supreme Court for considering Lalu Prasad's plea

NEW DELHI: Veteran lawyer and former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan on Tuesday tore into the Supreme Court for considering a plea by Lalu Prasad Yadav to transfer a CBI court judge just days before he was deliver a judgement in one of the several fodder scam cases pending against the former Bihar chief minister.

The Ranchi special judge was to deliver his judgement on July 15, but Lalu moved the High Court just days before the verdict and was turned away. He then approached the Supreme Court and got a stay from a bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam on July 9.

At that hearing, the top court had hinted at the possibility of changing the trial judge, possibly acceding to Lalu's contention that he was related to a minister in the Bihar government headed by Nitish Kumar, Lalu's main political opponent.

When the court took up the case again on Tuesday, Bhushan strongly opposed Lalu's plea, saying it would undermine public confidence in the judiciary.

"Trial has been continuing for the last 16 years. If at this stage the judge is transferred, it will undermine public confidence in the justice-delivery mechanism," said Bhushan, arguing on behalf of Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan, another political opponent of Lalu.