Jharkhand HC judge refers to chief justice CBI plea to enhance Lalu Prasad's prison term

Justice R Shankar of the Jharkhand High Court Friday referred the CBI's plea to increase the prison term of jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad and others in a fodder scam case to the chief justice for listing it in the appropriate bench. The petition was listed for hearing by the bench of Justice Shankar, but during the hearing, the judge said he is referring it to the chief justice for sending it to a suitable bench.

The central probe agency has moved the high court after a special CBI court awarded three-year imprisonment to Prasad and three others - former IAS officers Beck Julius and Mahesh Prasad, and RJD leader R K Rana - last year. It had also sentenced former MP Jagdish Sharma to seven years in jail the case pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from Deoghar treasury in the early 1990s.

The CBI petition urged the high court to enhance the prison term of Prasad and the three others, as they had been booked for higher conspiracy charges. Prasad is serving varying prison sentences after being convicted in four fodder scam cases by separate special CBI courts in Ranchi, and he is facing trial in a fifth fodder scam case.

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