More relief for Lalu Prasad in fodder scam case

New Delhi, July 23: Agreeing to the plea of former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, Supreme Court on Tuesday has agreed to transfer the multi-crore fodder scam case to another judge, offering a greater relief to RJD chief who is accused in the scam when he was Bihar chief minister.

Lalu Prasad has allegedly claimed that the trail judge was a relative of a minister in rival Nitish Kumar Government.

Former Bihar chief minister along with 40 others named as an accused in five fodder scam cases in 1997.

In this case he is accused of withdrawing Rs 35 crore illegally from the Chaibasa (Jharkhand) treasury.

54 of the 61 cases related to the scandal were transferred to Jharkhand courts after it was carved out from Bihar and made a separate state in November 2000.

Lalu had approached the Supreme Court after the Jharkhand High Court had dismissed his appeal of transfer.

The next hearing in the case will take place on August 6 and the supreme court will transfer the scam trail to a new bench and will fix a time limit for its completion.

OneIndia News

(with agency inputs)