Patna, May 6: Former chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra were among 29 accused who appeared in person before a special CBI court on Friday in connection with excess withdrawal of Rs 46,98,048 from the Bhagalpur and Banka treasuries.
The case is an offshoot of the multi-crore fodder scam that rocked the undivided state in the mid-1990s.
The accused were asked to appear in case number RC 63(A)/96, which is related to fraudulent withdrawal from the Bhagalpur and Banka treasuries.
Other accused, including former MP Ravindra Kumar Rana and Jagdish Sharma, former minister Vidya Sagar Nishad and former IAS officer Beck Julius, also appeared in Justice Devraj Tripathi's court but former IAS officer K. Arumugam stayed away. The court directed Arumugam to appear in person on May 10.
While coming out of the courtroom, Lalu told mediapersons that he had full faith in the judicial system. "I hope that I get justice. Whenever the court fixes dates for appearance, I always abide. I am also a law graduate and have full respect for the judiciary."
On May 15, 1996, the CBI had lodged an FIR on the direction of Patna High Court.
After investigation, CBI filed a chargesheet on March 31, 2003, against 45 accused with names of 268 witnesses and 514 documents. Several accused and witnesses have died during the trial. While two accused turned approvers, 30 face trial at present.
The court framed charges against accused on March 1, 2012. The first witness gave his statement on April 2, 2012, and till now, only 16 witnesses have given their statements before the special court.
In its chargesheet, the CBI revealed that between 1988 and 1996, fraudulent withdrawals were made from the Bhagalpur, Banka, Patna and other treasuries. Several fake allotment letters had been issued on the basis of fake bills produced by suppliers. All the accused were beneficiaries of the fraudulent withdrawals, the chargesheet alleges.
Twenty per cent of the bill amount was allegedly retained by suppliers and the remaining 80 per cent was distributed among the accused, who comprised officials of the erstwhile animal husbandry department, government officers, ministers, chief minister and other politicians for their respective roles in the conspiracy of covering up the illegal withdrawals.
The accused have extended hospitality to government functionaries and politicians by way of providing free air tickets, fooding and lodging expenses in hotels.
