With the dark shadows of the infamous fodder scam surrounding RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and other politicians facing charges moving fast through judicial condensation, they have been asked to appear in a Ranchi court to record their statements from February 13.
Mr Yadav, the main accused in five of the 53 cases of the `950-crore fodder scam, and Bihar’s former Congress chief minister Jagannath Mishra are among 42 accused who have been asked to appear in a special CBI court in Ranchi between February 13 and 15 to get their statements recorded in the scam’s biggest case. After getting the statements of 350 prosecution witnesses in the case, judge P.K. Sinha fixed these dates for the accused on Tuesday.
Other politicians named accused in this case (RC 20A/96), which involves fraudulent withdrawal of `37 crores from the treasury at Chaibasa in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district, include former RJD MP R.K. Rana, sitting MP Jagdish Sharma, Dhruv Bhagat and Bholaram Toofani. The CBI had listed 472 witnesses in this case but sought their recording of statements to end after completing 350 witnesses with the belief that their testimony and other evidence will be enough to convict the accused, and the court accepted the proposal.
“The evidence already documented and examined in this case, arguably the mother of all fodder scam cases, is more than enough to nail the top guns. It is a big achievement for the CBI and the judiciary to complete examining so much prosecution evidence,” said a senior CBI official.
Special CBI advocate B.M.P. Singh said the court will decide which accused will be summoned first.
Mr Yadav had to resign as Bihar chief minister in 1997 in the wake of the scam and went to jail in Ranchi.