DA case: Lalu, Rabri challenge Patna HC order in Supreme Court

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi have filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging Patna High Court order allowing the Bihar Governments plea to hear its appeal against their acquittal in connection with disproportionate assets case.

Patna, Oct 24 : Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi have filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging Patna High Court order allowing the Bihar Government's plea to hear its appeal against their acquittal in connection with disproportionate assets case.

In their petition, Lalu and Rabri contended that the state government was not competent to file an appeal against the trial court's verdict acquitting them in the DA case.

Since the case was probed by CBI, so either the Centre or the investigating agency was competent to challenge the CBI court verdict, the petition said.

On September 20, the High Court had held that the Bihar government's appeal challenging their acquittal in a DA case maintainable, saying the appeal could be entertained under section 378 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) relating to a case of acquittal.

On December 18, 2006, the duo had been acquitted by Special CBI judge Muni Lal Paswan in the case, relating to Lalu's assets worth Rs 46 lakh beyond his known sources of income. Rabri Devi was made a co-accused in the case.

The state government had gone in appeal against the CBI court verdict after the, Central Bureau of Investigation, which had probed the DA case, decided not to challenge the acquittal.

ANI