THE STATES

Over to Ranchi

Even as the Supreme Court asks Laloo Prasad Yadav to surrender before the Special Court in Ranchi and apply to it for bail, dissidents in his Rashtriya Janata Dal step up their activity.

KALYAN CHAUDHURI

RASHTRIYA Janata Dal supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav's troubles seem to have taken a turn for the worse with the Supreme Court asking him to surrender before a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)-designated Special Court in Ranchi on November 26 in connection with the fodder scam cases while refusing to grant him blanket bail. The judgment has given the dissidents in his party another opportunity to gang up effectively against him.

RANJEET KUMAR
Laloo Prasad Yadav with supporters after he was re-elected Rashtriya Janata Dal president in October.

In its verdict on November 5, the three-Judge Bench of Justices K.T. Thomas, S.S.M. Quadri and U.C. Banerjee said Laloo Prasad could apply for bail after he surrendered. "It is for Yadav to satisfy the trial court in this regard," the Bench said. The apex court, however, restrained the CBI from arresting him until he appeared before the Ranchi court.

Earlier the Supreme Court had ordered the Patna High Court to shift all the 36 fodder scam cases, including those in which Laloo Prasad and former Congress(I) Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra, are among the accused, from Bihar to Jharkhand. The court held that the 36 cases involved huge fraudulent withdrawals from the treasuries now situated in Jharkhand, which was carved out of Bihar on November 15, 2000.

The Bench said: "We have no doubt that when the offence is under Section 13(1) or Section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the sole determinative factor regarding the court having jurisdiction is the place where the offence was committed."

The Patna High Court had earlier dismissed a petition from the CBI seeking the transfer of the cases to Jharkhand. The investigating agency filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court against the ruling. Laloo Prasad's counsel Kapil Sibal made repeated pleas to the apex court to grant his client blanket bail. The Bench, however, said the petitioner could move to the Special Court for bail after he surrendered.

Sibal feared that if the Special Court did not decide the bail application the same day it would create difficult circumstances for Laloo Prasad Yadav. The Bench, however, ordered that the Special Court should decide the bail application the same day. Seeking blanket bail for Laloo Prasad, Sibal pointed out that the allegations made in all the 36 cases were identical to those made in the cases pending before the Special Court in Patna, which had granted Laloo Prasad bail.

Laloo Prasad, whose arrest the Supreme Court had stayed on July 23, told Frontline that since the jurisdiction had been decided, he had no option but to appear before the Special Court in Ranchi. "I have faith in the judiciary and I hope justice will be done in the Ranchi court. I shall definitely surrender before the court and request for bail since I have already served six months' imprisonment in similar cases," he said.

He alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre was using the CBI to conspire against him and "making use of all means at its disposal to send me to jail". The RJD chief appeared composed when news about the Supreme Court order reached 1 Anne Marg, his wife and Chief Minister Rabri Devi's official residence in Patna. No senior leaders of the RJD and its ally the Congress(I), were around.

Addressing mediapersons, Laloo Prasad said his worries were only about his wife and the government she was running. "She is too busy with the children to pay attention to every single nitty-gritty of governance," he said. Then, in a flash of defiance, he added: "This however will not be any threat to the government. In my absence things will run smoothly."

But things may not be that smooth for the RJD chief. The problems of having to go to jail in Jharkhand may be less important than the fact that he will not be around in Patna to deal with the political threat posed by dissidents in his party, who are reportedly ganging up against his "autocratic style of functioning". His rivals are said to be waiting for the day he leaves Bihar. It was just six months ago that the RJD was rocked by a revolt that was spearheaded by Ranjan Yadav, a one-time aide of Laloo Prasad.

The RJD has a history of revolts and there is no ruling out another one. That is what is probably bothering Laloo Prasad. Moreover, the BJP and its ally, the Samata Party, are reportedly preparing to step up their campaign to topple the Rabri Devi government in the event of Laloo Prasad landing in the Ranchi jail. The NDA is in touch with some dissident RJD MLAs.

Laloo Prasad is said to be contemplating forming a "team of his trusted lieutenants" to look after the Rabri Devi government and the party during his absence. He never required it in the past as on three earlier occasions when he was in the Beur jail in Patna, he enjoyed all comforts and facilities and virtually ran the government from prison. Laloo Prasad's hope is that even if he is taken into custody in Ranchi he would have to be frequently produced in the Patna court in connection with the disproportionate assets case.

Even as the BJP Chief Minister of Jharkhand Babulal Marandi said that Laloo Prasad would be treated like an "ordinary undertrial" in the event of his arrest, the RJD chief appeared restrained. He said in his inimitable style: "Even if I am forced into the dungeons of a Ranchi jail, I will not make it an issue. I will not sit idle there. I have nine MLAs in the Jharkhand Assembly, who will come to meet me regularly. My stay in Ranchi will provide me an opportunity to make my party's base strong in the new State of Jharkhand."