Fodder scam verdict to be out today

Patna: A special CBI court in Ranchi will deliver the verdict in a fodder scam case on Saturday in which RJD chief Lalu Yadav is an accused.

The verdict will also decide the fate of 32 other accused, including former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra.

Lalu Yadav is facing trial for the embezzlement of Rs 84.5 crore from Deoghar Treasury when he was the chief minister of Bihar between 1994 and 1996.

“I have full faith in judiciary,” Mr Yadav said whi-le leaving for Ranchi to appear before the CBI court.

His younger son, Tejashwi Yadav, also accompanied him and will remain in Ranchi on Saturday when the CBI court will pronounce a verdict.

On being asked about leadership crisis in his party in case the court finds him guilty, Mr Yadav said, “Workers of RJD will support Tejashwi Yadav in running the party. Whenever I face crisis, it’s the party workers who have come forward and strengthened the RJD. I will continue to wage war against the BJP despite all their efforts to stop me,” RJD chief Lalu Yadav told reporters in Patna while leaving for Ranchi on Friday.

Observers are of the view that the verdict if pronounced against Lalu Yadav may impact the political equation in Bihar. They said that in the given situation, his efforts to stitch a larger secular alliance against the BJP at the national level may also fail to take off.

The RJD chief is already a convict in one of the five fodder scam cases but was granted bail by the Supreme Court in December 2013.

The trial in all pending cases began in June this year after Supreme Court stepped in by setting aside the 2014 Jharkhand high court order which had stayed trial against Lalu Yadav after he was convicted in one of the cases.