Former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra received temporary reprieve yesterday when the Patna High Court granted him anticipatory bail.
The court asked Mishra, who has been chargesheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Rs 950-crore fodder scam, to furnish two sureties of Rs 50,000 each in the designated court of the CBI for bail. The anticipatory bail granted by the single bench of Justice Dharmpal Sinha will be valid upto seven days after a regular bail petition of his is rejected by the trial court, which has already rejected his anticipatory bail petition.
Sinha based his ruling on the Supreme Court judgment in the K L Verma versus Union of India case reported in 1996 BBCJ, 87 (SC). The question of filing a regular bail petition would arise after the trial court takes cognisance of the chargesheet against him.
The trial court had refused to take cognisance of the chargesheet against him, Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and others on Monday last for want of some documents for proof.
Justice Sinha, in his ruling, said that there is no evidence to connect the petitioner directly to the fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37 crore from the Chaibasa treasury in south Bihar in 1993. The name of the petitioner was not mentioned in the FIR.
He also stated that the accusations made by the investigating agency against Mishra that he had made recommendatory letters for granting extension of service to the scamsters and received illegal gratifications from them, was not supported by direct evidence.
Justice Sinha, in the order, said the petitioner had deep roots in the society as he had been the Chief Minister of Bihar and leader of the opposition in the state assembly and was a Rajya Sabha member at present, and thus, he is not likely to abscond.
Sinha also criticised the CBI for conducting the investigations in a casual manner.
You are the best investigating agency in the country. Is this the way to conduct an investigation?.
You have not examined the persons who have allegedly paid the amount to the petitioner, he said.
Meanwhile, there was strong resentment over the out of turn listing and hearing of Mishras bail application. The Patna High Court Bar Association adopted a resolution against the listing of the regular and anticipatory bail petitions on the basis of the petitioners status. Association president Basant Kumar Choudhury said that as many as 680 anticipatory bail petitions were superceeded to accommodate Mishras case.
