Patna, May 3: After waiting for eight months, the CBI is likely to get the Governor's sanction in a few days to prosecute former Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and others in a fodder scam case (RC 64).Laloo Prasad Yadav was earlier prosecuted in another fodder scam case (RC 20).
According to sources, Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari today had a meeting with his officials regarding the sanction. Bhandari, who was in Delhi last week, is said to have held discussions with senior officials and legal experts. Sources say that legal experts agreed that sanction could be given.
The immediate provocation for the move to decide on the sanction is the Patna High Court's directive yesterday to the Government counsel to find out reasons for the delay.
Sources say that Governor Bhandari will prefer to give his sanction before May 15, when the court takes up the case again.
Yesterday, monitoring the progress in the fodder scam investigation, Patna High Court expressed its displeasure on the tardy progressand asked the CBI Director to explain on affidavit the reasons for the delay.
The Division Bench, comprising Justice SN Jha and Justice SJ Mukhopadhyaya, asked Additional Advocate General of Bihar Ganga Prasad Rai what he had done to carry out the instructions of the court.
The court had directed Rai to state why the Governor was reluctant to grant sanction for prosecution in case RC 64. The court, not willing to accept any of his clarifications, observed: ``Don't beat your drum.''
Rai had tried to clarify that due to non-availability of papers from the CBI, former governor AR Kidwai could not take the decision. Justice Mukhopadhaya observed: ``What did he do for seven months? The file was pending with him for seven long months. Now you suggest the new incumbent will take his own time.''
Justice Jha said: ``How long will we continue?''
The court issued direction to the Central and State governments to file an affidavit by May 15 over the delay in granting sanction to the CBI for prosecutingpoliticians and bureaucrats.
Meanwhile, the Cenrtral Bureau of Investigation sources maintained that after exonerated of the charges of requisitioning the army on July 30, by the Calcutta High Court, the joint director U N Biswas has issued instructions to his Investigating Officers to complete the formalities for initiating the trial in RC 20 against the politicians and others by the next month.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
