Supreme Court provides relief to Lalu Yadav in disproportionate assets case - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The Supreme Court on Thursday said the Government of Bihar has no authority to file an appeal against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Yadav's 2006 acquittal in a disproportionate assets case. "The Bihar Government is not a competent authority to file an appeal in the case," a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices R M Lodha and B S Chauhan said. The apex court also set aside a Patna High Court decision admitting the appeal filed by Bihar Government against the acquittal of Lalu and his wife Rabri Devi in the case. During a final hearing on March 10, the CBI stood by Lalu in the Supreme Court and opposed the Bihar Government's decision to challenge his acquittal in a disproportionate assets case, an off-shoot of the 1995-96 fodder scam. The CBI had booked Lalu and Rabri Devi on charges of amassing property worth Rs 46 lakh above their legal sources of income. Lalu was sent to the Bihar military police guest house on judicial remand in July 1997 and again in October 1998. He spent a day in the Beur Jail in the disproportionate assets case in November 2000. Lalu and Rabri Devi, however, were acquitted of all charges by Special CBI Judge Muni Lal Paswan in December 2006. The Bihar Government challenged their acquittal in 2007.