In less than a month after he rose like a phoenix in the Bihar assembly elections, Lalu Prasad will now be busy fighting his legal battle. All eyes will be riveted on the Supreme Court which, on December 1, is likely to hear a CBI plea challenging a Ranchi High Court order giving partial relief to Lalu in a fodder scam case (No. 64(A)/96).
Lalu, who, after his conviction in the fodder scam case (No. RC/20 (A)/96), is on bail, prayed before the high court that he had been charged as an accused in five cases. Invoking the doctrine of natural justice, he said a person convicted in one case could not be tried in similar cases based on the same witnesses and evidence. Quoting Article 20(2) of the Constitution and relevant sections of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), Lalu’s lawyer contended that no one should be punished twice for the same offence.