Hope for Lalu in fodder scam after Mishra reprieve

A day after the Jharkhand High Court quashed four fodder scam cases against former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra on the ground that a person convicted in one case cannot be tried in similar cases based on the same witnesses and evidences, there is some hope for another accused and another former chief minister, Lalu Prasad.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president is now likely to move the high court pleading that he too be treated the same way.

He had made a similar plea earlier, but the CBI trial court had dismissed it on July 1.

Notably, both Mishra and Lalu were accused in five fodder scam cases, including one (RC 20A/96) pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore from the Chaibasa treasury, in which both were convicted by the Central Bureau of Investigation court in September last year and sent to Ranchi jail.

Mishra, sentenced to four years of imprisonment, is currently out on bail. He moved the Jharkhand High Court pleading that his involvement in RC 20A/96 was the same as that of the other four cases (related to withdrawal of money from the Chaibasa, Deoghar, Doranda and Dumka treasuries).

CBI opposition

Though the Central Bureau of Investigation opposed Mishra’s petition, the High Court judge observed that Mishra’s conviction in one case was enough punitive measure.

The court then quashed the remaining four cases against Mishra, arguing that “the other cases did not separate the ingredients from the case he has already been convicted in, and further prosecution in these cases would be abuse of the process of the law.”

The reprieve granted to Mishra has now given hope to the RJD chief. Lalu has already challenged his conviction in the first case, while the rest are pending trial.

Lalu is likely to move the High Court with the plea that he too should not be tried in the four other cases, as the Central Bureau of Investigation had put up the same set of witnesses and evidence against him in them.