Trial against Laloo, Rabri begins

By Our Staff Correspondent

PATNA, JULY 4. The trial of the Bihar Chief Minister, Mrs. Rabri Devi, and the RJD president, Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav, in the disproportionate assets case commenced in the CBI- designated court with the examination of the first witness today.

The trial got under way in the special CBI court of Mr. S. K. Pathak, even as the petition filed before the Patna High Court by the Yadav couple challenging the framing of charges against them by the designated court was pending disposal.

Mr. Yadav was present in the court, while the Chief Minister was represented by her lawyer in the case which is an off-shoot of the multi- crore fodder scam case. The CBI court framed charges against them last month on the basis of the chargesheet filed by the investigative agency, which has accused Mr. Yadav of a massing assets worth over Rs. 46 lakhs in excess of his known sources of income and made his wife the co-accused for abetting the crime.

The trial would proceed on a-day-to-day basis in the light of the Patna high-court's ruling to complete it within six months.

The first witness produced by the CBI was the finance manager of the Bihar State Housing Cooperative, Mr. Manoj Kant Thakur, who served as Assistant Development Officer during 1989-95.

The CBI counsel, Mr. L. R. Ansari, grilled Mr. Thakur on the loan that had been made available to Mr. Yadav to build a house at Samanpura, under Phulwari police station. Mr. Thakur said that a loan of Rs. 2 lakhs was sanctioned on August 3, 1993 but after making deductions of the share money (5 per cent), group insurance (1 per cent) and general insurance (0.5 per cent), the actual money released in three instalments was Rs. 1.87 lakhs.

Replying to CBI's questions, Mr. Thakur said that prior to 1997, the cut-out year of assessment of Mr. Yadav's assets by the CBI, Mr. Yadav had paid an amount of Rs. 1 lakh on July 17, 1995, the major part of which was adjusted against payment (Rs. 83,336.48 paise), penal interest (Rs. 8,214.75 paise) and the principal amount (Rs. 9,352.23 paise).

Replying to supplementaries, Mr. Thakur said the share money was the member's money, which was either returned to the applicant or adjusted while closing the account. He also said the applicant had to bear expenses like application fees (Rs. 750), stamp papers and affidavit papers.

Questioned by Mr. Yadav's lawyer, Mr. P. N. Pandey, Mr. Thakur admitted that no share certificate had so far been issued for the sum of Rs. 10,000 that had been deducted. He also conceded that the CBI had questioned him about the statutory expenses that Mr. Yadav had incurred but added that it was there for all to see. Mr. Pandey pointed out that it worked to Rs. 34.70 paise.

Talking to newspersons, Mr. Pandey alleged that the CBI had included the share money in Mr. Yadav's income, even though the share had not been issued to him at all.

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