The Supreme Court held on Thursday that the Bihar government did not have the authority to file an appeal in the Patna High Court against the acquittal of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and his wife in a disproportionate assets case which was prosecuted by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
"The Bihar government is not a competent authority to file an appeal in the case," a bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices R M Lodha and B S Chauhan said. The verdict was passed by allowing the appeal filed by Lalu Prasad and his wife and also by the CBI challenging the decision of the Patna High Court admitting the appeal filed by the Bihar government against their acquittal by a special CBI court. The state government had filed the appeal after the CBI had not challenged the acquittal. While delivering the judgement, Justice Lodha said in the present case, it is the centre and the CBI alone which are the competent authorities to file the appeal and the state government is excluded to challenge the trial court's order under the law.
Special CBI Judge Muni Lal Paswan had on December 18, 2006 acquitted Lalu and his wife Rabri Devi in the case in which the RJD chief was accused of amassing assets worth Rs 46 lakh beyond his known sources of income when he was Bihar chief minister between 1990 and 1997. The Bihar government had moved the high court against the trial court verdict after finding that CBI was not challenging the acquittal of Prasad and his wife in the case.
The high court had held that Bihar government's appeal challenging their acquittal in the disproportonate assets case was maintainable, saying it could be entertained under section 378 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) relating to a case of acquittal. Questioning the move of Bihar government, the CBI, in its petition, maintained that the Nitish Kumar government has no locus standi to file an appeal as the case was investigated by it and the state government cannot act contrary to the executive decision of the Centre.
Lalu Prasad and his wife have also taken a similar stand. During the final hearing on March 10, CBI stood by the RJD chief in the Supreme Court by opposing the decision of the Bihar government to challenge his acquittal in the DA case, an off-shoot of the fodder scam. However, the Bihar government had contended it has the power to file an appeal against the acquittal irrespective of the fact that the case was probed and prosecuted by CBI as the crime was committed in the state. It maintained that Section 378 (2) of the CrPC only gives additional power to the Centre to decide on the question of appeal in the cases which are investigated by CBI. The Bihar government supported the high court decision admitting the appeal against the acquittal of the RJD chief and his wife in the case.
However, the Bihar government had contended it has the power to file an appeal against the acquittal irrespective of the fact that the case was probed and prosecuted by CBI as the crime was committed in the state. It had argued that Section 378 (2) of the Cr.PC only gives additional power to the Centre to decide on the question of appeal in the cases which are investigated by CBI. The Bihar Government supported the High Court decision admitting the appeal against the acquittal of the RJD chief and his wife in the case.