Fear of law and order problems shouldn't delay fodder arrests: Patna high court
The Patna high court on Tuesday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation not to use different yardsticks for politicians and other accused in the Rs 9.5 billion fodder scam.
The division bench comprising Justice S N Jha and Justice S J Mukhopadhya said there should not be any discrimination in arresting VIPs and other accused on the plea of a law and order problem.
CBI Joint Director (east) U N Biswas assured the court that
there was no external pressure on him in the matter of arrest. He
said the accused chargesheeted in the fodder scam
would be arrested shortly. Later in a lighter vein, he said: ''The day has not ended as yet.''
Biswas asserted that fear of law and order problems would not stop him from arresting politicians involved in the scam.
The court will review the progress in the scam probe on Monday.
Referring to the designated court's refusal to take immediate cognisance of the CBI's chargesheet against Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and 55 others in the Rs 9.5 billion fodder scam, the judges asked the counsel why the agency had filed an incomplete chargesheet.
The CBI counsel replied that the chargesheet was filed in
accordance with the provisions of section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code. He clarified there was no defect in the chargesheet.
However, the special judge heading the designated court did not agree with this contention. Rejecting the CBI's plea that immediate cognisance of the chargesheet should be taken for issue of arrest warrants and summons against the accused, Judge S K Lal observed that section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code had not been complied with before filing the document. The section requires filing of the chargesheet after full and proper investigation.
The court asked CBI counsel L R Ansari to produce the recorded
statements, case diary and several other documents related to the
scam.
In another development, Judge Lal rejected the anticipatory bail application of former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra in the scam. He also rejected the bail applications of Janata Dal legislator R K Rana, IAS officer Beck Julius and Ram Raj Ram currently lodged in the Beur central jail.
Hearing the bail applications, the special judge passed the order that all the four accused were prima facie guilty in the scam.
The court also issued directions to provide proper security
to the accused as two IAS officers K Arumugam and Mahesh Prasad were seriously injured in a recent clash in the jail.
UNI
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