Corruption in India
Sadhu Yadav
Times Of India
and news.indiainfo.com
PATNA: The controversial brother-in-law of railway minister Lalu Prasad and Gopalganj RJD MP Ani-ruddha Prasad alias Sadhu Yadav was on Monday remanded to judicial custody till December 12 after he surrendered in a vigilance court in Patna in connection with a case of forgery and cheating, an offshoot of the flood-relief scam of 2004.
Sadhu surrendered in the court of in-charge special judge (vigilance) Munilal Paswan following denial of anticipatory bail to him by the Supreme Court on December 1 and the property attachment order issued against him by the vigilance court on November 25.
His counsel Janardan Rai later moved a bail plea, which was posted for hearing on December 6. The MP was then taken to Beur jail. This is for the first time that Sadhu has been sent to jail. The case relates to swindling of more than Rs 17 crore meant for providing succour to the flood victims of north Bihar districts. The case against Sadhu was registered on September 5 by the state vigilance investigation bureau.
The Patna High Court today (Jan 4, 2007) granted bail to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Sadhu Yadav in a case related to irregularities in the use of millions of rupees meant for flood relief in Bihar.
Sadhu Yadav, brother-in-law of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad who has been in Patna's Beur jail, was restricted from going abroad.
The MP from Gopalgunj had surrendered in the special vigilance court last month after the Supreme Court dismissed his bail plea in another case related to the flood relief scam.
The vigilance court had in November issued an arrest warrant against Yadav and ordered the attachment of his properties in Patna, Gopalgunj and New Delhi.
Yadav, the brother of former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, is accused of accepting the transfer of Rs.600,000 into his account by Santosh Jha, considered the kingpin of the flood relief scandal. He maintains that the money was received after the sale of a car he had bought from a Delhi businessman Sumit Jenna.