RJD to appeal against CBI court order on Lalu: Tejashwi

Patna: The RJD today said the special CBI court order convicting Lalu Prasad in a fodder scam case was not final and it would appeal in the high court and, if necessary, in the Supreme Court. Leader of the opposition in Bihar Assembly and Lalu Prasad’s son Tejashwi Yadav also accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the BJP of framing his father who was viewed as a “hero” by the masses.

“We have to abide by whatever is the court’s ruling. But the CBI court order is not going to be final. We will appeal in the high court and, if need be, in the Supreme Court,” Yadav said about his father’s conviction in the third fodder scam case.

“It is a common perception that Lalu Prasad, whom the public views as its hero, has been framed in the cases at the instance of Nitish Kumar and the BJP-RSS brigade,” Yadav told reporters outside Raj Bhavan here. Prasad’s detractors, he added, have always been scared of his immense popularity.

Yadav claimed the BJP-led NDA was planning to hold elections in Bihar by December this year and this was evident with senior BJP leaders as well as RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat undertaking tours of the state.

The NDA wants to keep Prasad embroiled in legal difficulties so that it is smooth sailing for the alliance, he said. But it is mistaken as the RJD would give a fitting reply to the NDA whenever elections are held, the former Bihar deputy chief minister added.

Yadav and other senior RJD leaders called on Governor Satya Pal Malik and submitted a memorandum to him alleging that the law and order situation in the state was deteriorating and the weaker sections of the society, especially the Dalits, were being oppressed.

He also took up the issue of the Srijan scam, in which government funds worth about Rs 1,000 crore were allegedly diverted to the accounts of a non-government organisation. “We hope that the CBI would investigate the multi-crore Srijan scam seriously and examine the role of the chief minister and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi in the corruption scandal.