Bihar governor gives CBI permission
to prosecute Laloo Yadav
Bihar Governor A R Kidwai has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to go ahead with the prosecution of Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and others allegedly involved in the Rs 9.5 billion animal fodder scam.
Raj Bhavan sources said the governor, finding prima facie evidence against the accused in the CBI's draft chargesheet, gave his permission for prosecuting the chief minister, two of his cabinet colleagues -- Labour Minister Vidya Sagar Nishad and Animal Husbandry Minister Bhola Ram Toofani -- and former chief minister Dr Jagannath Mishra.
The decks have now been cleared for the CBI to file a chargesheet in the case.
The governor accorded sanction to the CBI after 39 days of an indepth study of the investigating report. The CBI had submitted the draft chargesheet to the governor on May 10.
CBI Deputy Inspector General of Police R N Kaul and Superintendent of
Police V S Kaumudi, while submitting the
investigation report to the governor, also submitted concrete
evidence against all the 56 people in the conspiracy angle of the
fodder scam.
The report carrying the draft sanction order for the prosecution ran in two volumes of 600 pages. The governor later summoned CBI Joint Director U N Biswas to clarify some of
the points on May 15 and June 6.
At the very outset, Governor Kidwai made it clear that he would
first find prima facie evidence before giving his nod.
CBI Director Joginder Singh on April 27 had announced that the
agency had decided to file a chargesheet against those involved in the
fodder scam.
Others accused in the scam are former animal husbandry minister Chandradeo Prasad Verma, three
legislators, R K Rana of the JD, Jagdish Sharma of the Congress and Dhruv Bhagat of the Bharatiya Janata Party, five senior IAS officers, Beck Julius, Phoolchand Singh, Mahesh Prasad, Sajal Chakravarty, and several senior animal husbandry department officials, veterinarians and suppliers.
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