Hearing the bail application filed by RJD chief lalu Prasad on Friday, the Jharkhand High Court called for lower Court Record (lCR) in the matter and fixed next date of hearing after two weeks.
“The court has called for lCR within two weeks following which the bail application filed by lalu Ji will be considered,” said Prasad’s Advocate Surendra Singh, who on January 23 had pleaded before the Court of Justice Apresh Kumar Singh to expedite hearing on the appeal filed by him against his conviction in fodder scam case RC64A/96 following which the Court had fixed February 2 for hearing.
Meanwhile, hearing the challenge petition filed by leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejaswi Yadav, RJD leaders Raghuvansh Prasad and Shivanand Tiwari against the contempt notice issued against them by Special CBI Court of Shiv Pal Singh, the Jharkhand High Court also put a stay on it till March 9 and asked the State and the CBI to file counter affidavits before that in this regard.
“The Court has stayed the order passed by Special CBI Court and has asked the CBI and the State to file counter affidavit before that,” said Tejawi’s Counsel Prabhat Kumar.
In another case related the order passed by Special CBI Court of Shivpal Singh directing former Bihar DGP DP Ojha to appear physically to be made also an accused in fodder scam case RC64A/96, the Court also put a stay on the notice issued against him and asking the CBI to file counter affidavit before the next date. Ojha had filed a petition in the Jharkhand High Court for the quashing of the order passed against him by the Special CBI Court on January 6.
“The order has been stayed by the Court and will be heard again on March 16,” said Ojha’s Counsel Siddharth Agrawal.
Incidentally, the special CBI court hearing fodder scam case RC64A/96 had issued prosecution notices to Sukhdev Singh, Additional Chief Secretary in the Finance
Department of Jharkhand, and former Bihar DGP DP Ojha. The court had issued the notices while convicting RJD chief lalu Prasad and 15 others in the case on December 23.
The judge read out the order again on January 3 and sought their response by January 23.
The Court has also put a stay on the order passed by the same CBI Court against Singh on January 23, giving four weeks time to the CBI to file a counter affidavit in this regard.
Prasad is currently lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail after the CBI Court of Shiv Pal Singh on January 6, pronounced 3.5 years’ jail and also slapped a fine of Rs 10 lakh for him in fodder scam case RC64A/96, related to fraudulent withdrawal from Deoghar treasury during 1991 to 1994.