Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Friday refused to comment on the CBI raids at the premises of his family members in connection with a new case of alleged irregularities in awarding the tender for the maintenance of hotels.
However, the RJD chief who is scheduled to appeared before a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in connection with the fodder scam case today, said he would give his statement later today.
The case has been registered against the then railway minister, his wife Rabri Devi, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and his son Tejashwi, the then IRCTC MD, P K Goyal, the wife of Yadav's confidante Prem Chand Gupta, Sarla rpt Sarla, and others, CBI sources said. Gupta is a former Union corporate affairs minister.
Fodder scam
The fodder scam case relates to the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 95 lakh from the Deoghar Treasury.
Overall, more than Rs 900 crore in public funds was reportedly siphoned off from the Chaibasa treasury over two decades, reports claim.
Lalu Yadav has also been found guilty of fraudulent withdrawals worth Rs 37.70 crore from the Chaibasa treasury.
The RJD chief has already been convicted and sentenced to five years of imprisonment in one of the five fodder scam cases.
The Supreme Court in May had set aside Lalu Yadav's plea that the Jharkhand High Court had in 2015 quashed criminal conspiracy charges against him in connection with alleged fraudulent withdrawal of several lakhs from the Deogarh treasury, and his claim that he had already been convicted for the offence, and therefore could not be tried again.
The single bench of the apex court order headed by Justice Arun Misra set aside the verdict of the High Court.
