Fodder scam: Sentencing of Lalu Prasad postponed till tomorrow following death of Bar member

Ranchi, Jan 3: Death of a Bar Association member forced a special CBI court on Wednesday to put off the sentencing of former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and 15 others in a fodder scam case.

The court will announce the sentence at 1400 hrs tomorrow.
Lalu Prasad was found guilty in case number RC 64A/96 which is related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89.4 lakh from Deoghar treasury.
Sanjay Kumar Vidrohi, Secretary of the Ranchi Bar Association, said a notice was given regarding the condolence meeting of passing away of the lawyer Bindeshwari Pathak. The condolence meeting was scheduled at 1330 hrs. After the condolence meeting, it is customary that the lawyers do not participate in any legal proceedings therefore a plea was made to the judge to either announce the punishment in the first half or postpone it for the next day.
Special CBI judge Shivpal Singh said that he would announce the quantum of
punishment in an alphabetical order in the group of four each tomorrow.
Prabhat Kumar, counsel for Lalu Prasad, told mediapersons outside the court room
that since there are only 16 convicts therefore a plea would be made that the sentencing is announced in the two batches of 8 each.
Lalu Prasad, along with others including ex-MP Jagdish Sharma and former
MLA R K Rana later returned to the Hotwar-based Birsa Munda Central Jail.
The judge also issued notice of contempt against former Deputy Bihar Chief
Minister Tejaswi Yadav, ex-Union Minister and senior Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, RJD's Shivanand Tiwari and Congress party's Manish Tiwari for media statements denigrating the judiciary. The court asked them to respond by 23rd January.
Judge Shivpal Singh also directed to issue notice against the then Deoghar District Collector Sukhdeo Singh and the then Bihar DGP DP Ojha, Shiv Kumar Patwari and Shailesh Prasad Singh.
On December 23, Lalu Prasad and 15 others had been found guilty in the case while there had been acquittal for six others, including another former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra. UNI