SC notice to Bihar on Lalu plea

NEW DELHI: With railway minister Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and the CBI, which prosecuted them in a disproportionate assets case, questioning the Nitish Kumar government's locus standi to challenge their acquittal, the SC on Monday issued notice to the Bihar government.
The CBI, which had charges-heeted Prasad and his wife in a corruption case in 1998, through solicitor general G E Vahanvati came in support of them and questioned the Patna high court's decision to admit an appeal by the state challenging their acquittal in the case.
The SG, in support of Prasad's counsel senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, said that allowing interference of state governments in CBI cases would create an anamolous situation for the prosecution and stressed that it was the agency's sole prerogative to file appeals against acquittals.
The JD(U)-BJP government in Bihar had filed an appeal in the HC challenging the acquittal of Prasad and his wife in the DA case after CBI decided not to appeal against the clean chit given to the husband and wife. A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices R V Raveendran and M K Sharma also asked Bihar government's counsel Harish Salve as to how a state government could interfere in a case where prosecution was conducted by the CBI.
Salve showed provisions of the CrPC and said there was clear cut permission for the state to take a decision relating to any case within its jurisidiction, but said CBI had also been given permission by code to move court in cases probed by it.