Patna, May 15: The judges whom the Supreme Court had selected to hear the petition of Bihar’s most powerful Yadav couple do not find a place on the bench constituted by Patna High Court.

Acting Chief Justice Nagendra Rai yesterday constituted the bench of Justice R.N. Prasad, Justice Barin Ghosh and Justice M.L. Visa to hear the petition of former chief ministers Laloo Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi against the sanction to prosecute them in the disproportionate assets case.

The decision comes four days after the Supreme Court changed its stand and gave the high court the discretion to appoint a bench of its own choice. The apex court had then said it agreed with Laloo Prasad’s contention that the prerogative of constituting the bench rested with the high court.

On April 26, the Supreme Court had requested the Patna court to constitute the bench comprising Justice Aftab Alam and Justice Chandramauli Prasad.

Both acting Chief Justice Rai and Laloo Prasad expressed displeasure at the order. On May 6, the acting chief justice adjourned the matter without constituting the bench. Laloo Prasad filed an application in the apex court against, including Justice Prasad on the bench and sought permission from the court to communicate with it in confidence on his apprehensions about the judge.

The apex court, in its hearing on May 10, allowed the high court to constitute its own bench, but directed that the case be heard on a day-to-day basis and the verdict be passed before it closes for the summer vacation.

The three-member bench is expected to resume the hearing tomorrow and pass the verdict by Friday when the court closes for the vacation. Two days ago, a senior advocate, Basant Kumar Choudhary, had entered into a verbal duel in the court on the issue. Choudhary had allegedly said, “But for the delay in disposing of this case in the high court, the CBI trial court would have finished the trial of the Yadav couple in the disproportionate assets case.”

Laloo Prasad’s petition challenging the governor’s sanction to prosecute the couple in the case has been pending in the court for about four years. Choudhary has also filed a writ in the apex court appealing for the appointment of a permanent chief justice for Patna. Rai has been in office as the acting chief justice for nearly 10 years.