Lalu acquitted in disproportionate assets case

New Delhi, Dec 18: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi have been cleared of all charges in the Disproportionate assets case by the special CBI court in Patna. The verdict is expected to have strong political fallouts in Bihar and elsewhere.

The case was lodged against Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi after Lalu was implicated in the fodder scam. The disproportionate assets offence against the duo is of Rs 46 lakh. The case had finally reached the judgement stage after six years. The RJD chief was facing a possible sentence of seven years of rigourous imprisonment and a monetary fine.

This is a big disappointment for the political opponents as Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Sushil Kumar Modi had even said that there was "100 per cent hope of conviction".

An FIR was filed against Lalu and Rabri in 1998 and both were chargesheeted by CBI in April 2000. It was during Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's brief tenure in 2000 that sanction for this case was given.

OneIndia News