Lalu Yadav is in jail in Ranchi after convicted in a fodder scam case
A special court in Patna on Monday deferred production of RJD chief Lalu Yadav, who is lodged in a Ranchi jail, to the third week of January in connection with a defamation case. Special MP/MLA court judge Rajiv Nayan posted the matter for hearing on January 20 in the case after Lalu Yadav's appearance through video-conferencing could not take place during the day due to technical problem.
The court had on November 18 last issued the production warrant against the RJD chief in the case filed by Uday Kant Mishra, a member of Bihar State Disaster Management Authority, for making objectionable comments against him.
The court had asked the authorities of Birsa Munda jail in Ranchi to produce Lalu Yadav before it on December 2, 2019.
The Ranchi jail Superintendent had written a letter to the special court judge urging him to allow Lalu Yadav's production via video conferencing.
The complainant's lawyer VS Dubey said the hearing via video conferencing could not take place because of technical glitches. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief is in the high-security jail in Jharkhand's capital following his conviction in several fodder scam cases.
Lalu Yadav and his son Tejashwi Yadav had mentioned petitioner Uday Kant Mishra's name in reference to the Srijan scam during a rally at Bhagalpur in 2017, after the Grand Alliance government collapsed in Bihar that year.
The multi-crore Srijan scam is related to fraudulent transfer of government money into the account of a Bhagalpur-based NGO and the CBI is investigating it. Srijan is a registered society for women in small income-generating activities.
The father-son duo had questioned Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar visiting Mr Mishra's house whenever he came to Bhagalpur, even though he had the facility to stay at the circuit house, Mr Mishra's lawyer had said.