New Delhi:
The Supreme Court has restrained a trial court in Ranchi from giving verdict in a fodder scam case in which RJD chief Lalu Yadav is accused of embezzling Rs 35 crore when he was Bihar chief minister.
The Ranchi court was expected to deliver verdict in the case by July 15.
This is good news for Mr Yadav, who had moved the Supreme Court seeking a transfer of his case to another court. Mr Yadav says he fears he will not get a fair trial as the Ranchi judge handling the case, Pravas Kumar Singh, is related to a senior minister in the current Bihar government headed by Mr Yadav's political rival Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal United.
"My biggest political enemy is Nitish Kumar," Mr Yadav told the top court. His lawyer, senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, alleged that the trial court judge Mr PK Singh had dropped a number of witnesses cited by Mr Yadav.
The court has issued a notice to the CBI, the prosecuting agency in the case, saying it needs to examine whether Mr Yadav's allegations have substance.
The Rashriya Janata Dal chief had approached the Supreme Court after the Jharkhand High Court had dismissed his appeal for a transfer.
Mr Yadav was named as an accused in five fodder scam cases in 1997, along with nearly 40 others. In this case he is accused of withdrawing Rs 35 crore illegally from the Chaibasa treasury. Chaibasa is now in Jharkhand.
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.
Bihar has 40 parliamentary seats; a verdict against Mr Yadav could impact his party's performance in the national elections, due by May next year.
Mr Yadav had quit as chief minister in 1997, when his name figured in the CBI investigations in the fodder scam, worth Rs 900 crore according to the CBI.