Patna: The Bihar government on Monday filed a petition in the court challenging the acquittal of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi in a 1998 case of amassing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income.
The Nitish Kumar government filed a petition in the Patna High Court against the acquittal of the duo by a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court, said Advocate General P K Sahi.
"The government moved the court after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar gave his nod to the recommendation by him based on reports submitted by the public prosecutor in the subordinate court," Sahi said.
According to Sahi, there were sufficient legal ground to challenge the order of the designated CBI judge.
Last week, the CBI approached the central law ministry seeking sanction to challenge the acquittal of the duo.
In December last year, the CBI court in Patna acquitted Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, saying the couple was innocent of the charges of amassing Rs.4.6 million disproportionate to Lalu Prasad's known income during 1990-97 when he was chief minister. Rabri Devi was included in the charge sheet later.
After the verdict, CBI officials hinted that they would challenge the verdict in the Patna High Court.
The case is an offshoot of the multibillion-rupee fodder scam in Bihar.
In April 2000, the CBI had filed a charge sheet in the case after which both the accused had surrendered in the court. While Rabri Devi got bail, Lalu Prasad was sent to jail.
He remained in jail for over a month before finally getting bail on May 10, 2000. In the charge sheet, the CBI had said Lalu Prasad owned property worth only Rs 6,44,000 when he took oath as chief minister on March 10, 1990.
Later, the couple amassed property worth Rs 5.1 million, much higher than their known source of income.
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