Fodder scam judge gets calls from Lalu's men

Ranchi: A judge, who convicted Lalu Prasad Yadav in the second fodder scam case, caused a flutter in the CBI court on Thursday by saying that “he had received phone calls from the “RJD chief’s men” keen on knowing his fate. The judge deferred the pronouncement of quantum of sentence till Friday but did not elaborate on the identity of the callers.

However, Special CBI judge Shivpal Singh, while talking informally to Mr Yadav in the court, hinted that the callers were trying to influence the sentence.

“I got many references for you but don’t worry, I will only follow the law,” he said.

The latest deferment of sentencing in the case was the second since Wednesday. The passing away of an advocate on Wednesday had shifted the matter to Thursday.

During the proceedings, Lalu Yadav, known for his funny one-liners, said in the court, “It is very cold here (in jail)”.

The judge was quick to reply, “Then, play tabla (musical instrument).”

Earlier, the CBI’s counsel requested the court to hand out the maximum sentence to Lalu Yadav and the 15 others accused in the case, which is related to the fraudulent withdrawal of '84.5 lakh from the Deoghar district treasury in Bihar between 1990 and 1994.

“I will requ-est the court judge to give maximum sentence to the accused so that no one tries to commit such a heinous crime,” the central probe agency’s lawyer said.

There is an indication that the judge may pronounce the quantum of punishment for Lalu Yadav through a video conferencing on Friday.

The CBI court, on December 23, held Lalu Yadav and others guilty of furnishing fake bills and vouchers for withdrawal of government money as part of the fodder scam. He was the chief minister of Bihar when the scam took place.

RJD chief Lalu Yadav was summoned to the courtroom in the second half but was sent back to jail again after court decided to take up his case on Friday.

The JD(U) reacted strongly to reports regarding Lalu Yadav’s men making phone calls to the CBI judge.

“We are concerned about procedures being violated by Lalu Yadav and his party. Leaders of RJD have been criticising the verdict and now Lalu Yadav is violating the procedure inside the court,” JD(U) spokesperson Niraj Kumar told this newspaper on Thursday.

Sources claimed that Lalu Yadav also tried to reach out to the judge personally and requested him to drop contempt cases against his son Tejashwi Yadav and other supporters.

The judge replied, “I listen to everyone but take my own decisions at the end of the day”.

The court on Wednesday had issued a contempt notice to RJD leaders including his son Tejashwi Yadav and party vice-president Raghuvansh Prasad Singh for speaking against the conviction of Lalu Yadav.