NEW DELHI, Mar 15:
Courts and not prosecutors should decide on dropping cases against RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, a senior law officer has cautioned CBI.
In an opinion given to CBI, Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran has said dropping of cases against Prasad should be decided by “courts and not prosecutors”, sources said today.
His opinion was sought by CBI chief Ranjit Sinha following differences between him and Director of Prosecution O P Verma.
Parasaran’s “brief” note to CBI assumes significance as its Director had last week advocated dropping of charges against Prasad in three pending cases which are offshoots of the infamous fodder scam in which the RJD leader has been convicted in one of the cases.
In recommending that the charges against Yadav be dropped, Sinha differed with Director of Prosecution (DOP) and other senior officers, including the head of CBI Patna Zone.
“I disagree with the Branch, HOZ and DOP. Since I do not agree with the DOP, let the matter be referred to the Solicitor General for his opinion on the legal issues raised in the petitions in all the three regular cases referred to in the comments of DOP,” he had said on February 26.
The matter was examined by CBI at various levels in which the Director of Prosecution had opined that the present case did not attract provisions of Section 300(1) of CrPC and Article 20(2) of the Constitution.
Section 300(1) says that a person who has once been tried by a court of competent jurisdiction for an offence and convicted or acquitted of such offence shall, while such conviction or acquittal remains in force, not be liable to be tried again for the same offence, nor on the same facts for any other offence for which a different charge from the one made against him might have been made under sub-section (1) of Section 221, or for which he might have been convicted under sub-section (2).
The cases in which Sinha recommended that charges against Yadav be dropped are connected with the alleged illegal withdrawal of Rs 3.13 crore from Dumka Treasury during the period December, 1995 to January, 1996, Rs 84.53 lakh from Deoghar Treasury between 1990-94 and Rs 33.13 crore from Chaibasa Treasury during December, 1992-93. (PTI)
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