High drama as Laloo appears in court

By K. Balchand

RANCHI, NOV. 26. The Special CBI Court today rejected the bail petitions of the two former Chief Ministers, Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav and Dr. Jagannath Mishra, and remanded them to 14 days judicial custody in connection with a conspiracy angle case of the fodder scam today.

Mr. Yadav and Dr. Mishra surrendered before the designated court of Mr. Harish Chandra Mishra as directed by the Supreme Court in connection with case no RC47A/96 relating to the fraudulent withdrawal of Rs. 182 crores from the Doranda Treasury, Ranchi, following the transfer to Jharkhand the trial of those cases of the fodder scam coming under its jurisdiction.

Rejecting their bail petition, the court, however, directed the Jharkhand Government to provide all security and medical help to Mr. Yadav and ordered that he be lodged at the Beacon Factory Guest House, which had earlier been notified as a camp jail for such an eventuality.

It is for the fifth time that Mr. Yadav has been remanded to judicial custody in connection with the fodder scam and its offshoot, the Disproportionate Assets Case, but the first time outside the Patna Central Jail, Beur, and for the first time here in the new State.

The Bihar Chief Minister, Mrs. Rabri Devi, is arriving here tomorrow to visit her husband at the camp jail.

Mr. Yadav said he would consult his lawyers on his next course of action. Even though he said that he had full faith in the judiciary, the RJD president said justice had never been rendered to him. The former Union Minister and leading lawyer, Mr. Ram Jethmalani argued Mr. Yadav's brief for bail before the designated court.

The man who left the masses spellbound and his adversaries flabbergasted by his show of strength, today, as promised, entered the court accompanied by party spokesman and Excise Minister, Mr. Shivanand Tiwari. A tight security cordon was thrown around the court premises and one had to pass through no less than four barricades to reach the court room. Only lawyers and journalists were allowed inside the court premises. But reporters were not allowed inside the court room to cover the proceedings. But the vigil at these barricades slackened and a host of outsiders who had gathered outside the court premises entered the premises. As news spread of the rejection of the bail petitions, senior RJD Ministers and functionaries trooped in.

Mediapersons injured

But for no rhyme or reason, police twice resorted to a lathicharge in the court premises injuring several mediapersons and RJD workers, one of whom suffered a serious head injury, while senior RJD Ministers were jostled by police and had to run for cover though there had been no provocation what so ever from any quarter.

The infuriated journalists later had a tussle with the police accusing the top civil and police officials of the district for the disorder and targeting them out of vengeance. The RJD leaders accused the BJP-led Government of behaving like a fascist outfit subverting democratic processes.

The lathicharge, however, did not dampen the spirits of the RJD workers and Ministers who expressed their solidarity with their leader and rushed in front of his car even as Mr. Yadav was escorted into it from the court room. They raised slogans in favour of Mr. Yadav and prevented his car from proceeding towards the Birsa Munda Jail, Ranchi, where he was taken first before being lodged at the camp jail.

Mr. Yadav was taken to the camp jail under heavy police escort, but his car moved at snail's pace with the RJD workers refusing to budge and allow the car to proceed. As it turned out, all the Ministers and senior leaders joined the cavalcade in yet another show of strength.

Mr. Yadav, who arrived here on Sunday, addressed party workers late in the night and charged the CBI with double-standards. He said it was being misused as a political tool by the BJP. He, however, asked the cadres not to turn up at the court premises. He described as sad and unnecessary the police lathicharge on journalists.

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