M A I N   N E W S

CBI allowed to prosecute Laloo

PATNA, March 17 (PTI) — Bihar Governor VC Pande has given his nod to the CBI’s request for the prosecution of RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav in a disproportionate assets case, CBI sources said.

Chief Minister Rabri Devi is a co-accused in the case which charged Mr Laloo with having accumulated wealth over Rs 42 lakh disproportionate to his known sources of income between 1990 and 1996 when he was the Chief Minister.

The Governor accorded sanction for prosecuting the RJD president a few days ago after thorough examination of papers, submitted by the CBI on March 10, the day the minority NDA ministry led by the Nitish Kumar bowed out of office without seeking a trust vote in the Assembly.

The CBI sources said the agency did not require formal sanction from the Governor for the prosecution of the RJD leader’s wife in the case as the charges covered the period when Mrs Rabri Devi was not the Chief Minister.

She became the Chief Minister on July 25, 1997 after her husband resigned the post following an arrest warrant against him in connection with a conspiracy angle case of the fodder scam.

The disproportionate assets case is an offshoot of the fodder scam.

The Governor’s sanction would facilitate the CBI to file a charge sheet which is likely to be done within a fortnight, the sources said.

The CBI has charged Mrs Rabri Devi with aiding and abetting her husband in amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Mr Laloo Yadav has charged the CBI with acting as a “political tool to settle score with the political adversaries of the BJP”.

The CBI had sought permission from the Governor on March 8 for the prosecution of Mr Yadav in the case.

The National Democratic Alliance said today that Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi would have no moral right to continue in the post in case a charge sheet was filed against her in the disproportionate assets (DA) case.

Reacting to the gubernatorial sanction to prosecute her and husband Laloo Prasad Yadav, opposition Leader in the Assembly Sushil Kumar Modi said the charge sheet was expected ‘any moment’ and once it was filed in the designated court Mrs Rabri Devi would have to relinquish office. He said the Governor had sanctioned her prosecution in the DA case in which she was made co-accused and the Central Bureau of Investigation had charged her with aiding and abetting RJD chief, Mr Yadav in amassing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.

Mr Modi said if the Congress and Left parties were inducted in the Cabinet after filing of the charge sheet, their credibility would be questioned and the leaders would be answerable in the people’s court.

He also threatened to launch a statewide agitation if Mrs Rabri Devi failed to resign from her post once charge sheet was filed in the case.

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today reserved its comments on Bihar Governor according permission to the CBI to prosecute RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav and Chief Minister Rabri Devi for allegedly possessing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income.

Asked to comment on the news report, party spokesman M Venkaiah Naidu said he was awaiting confirmation. If the news is correct, the law should take its own course.