Patna high court rejects Laloo's bail plea

The Patna high court on Thursday rejected the anticipatory bail applications of Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, his two cabinet colleagues and a former Union minister in connection with the fodder scam case.

Delivering the verdict after four days of hearing, Justice Daljit Singh Dhaliwal said there were prima facie charges against Laloo Yadav, Animal Husbandry Minister Bhola Ram Toofani, Labour Minister Vidya Sagar Nishad and former Union minister Chandradev Prasad Verma. They seem to be directly involved in the Rs 9.5 billion scam.

Asked for his reaction on the verdict, Laloo Yadav said his lawyers will move the Supreme Court on Friday.

The chief minister said his lawyers will file the anticipatory bail petition in the Supreme Court tomorrow.

Laloo Yadav refused to comment on the high court verdict and reiterated that he would not resign from his post.

He said that he would fight the scam issue in the court and would continue the political battle in wake of the conspiracies hatched against him.

On June 27, former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra was granted anticipatory bail in the same case by the Patna high court, after being rejected by the CBI special court.

The CBI court had also rejected the anticipatory bail petitions of Yadav, Toofani, Nishad and Verma in four cases of the fodder scam.

Meanwhile, the United Front's core committee is meeting on Friday to consider afresh the contentious issue of Rashtriya Janata Dal's entry into the 13-party combine. The meeting will discuss the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's reservation over the earlier decision of the committee to deny admission to the RJD.

The core committee at its last meeting on July 17 also deferred a decision on the continuance of three Laloo Yadav's aides in the I K Gujral ministry.

Following Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi's controversial statement, several Front leaders got in touch with the DMK chief. The latter now says he would not press for the acceptance of his compromise formula. The majority view of the last core committee meeting was that the RJD should be kept out of the UF.

With the Patna high court denying bail to Laloo Yadav, it would be difficult for anyone to hold brief for the beleaguered chief minister, according to UF sources.

The sources said that in all likelihood the Front would shut its doors on the RJD.

The core committee meeting is also expected to decide on the Front's candidate for the post of vice-president. The UF had decided to field a joint candidate in consultation with the Congress.

To sort out their differences on the issue, Karunanidhi and Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet are meeting in New Delhi on Thursday night.

Even Thursday's Union Cabinet informal meeting is understood to have discussed the situation in Bihar arising from Laloo Yadav's refusal to resign.

Attorney-General Ashok Desai, who was invited for the meeting, is understood to have explained the legal and constitutional position on the issue.

UNI