New Delhi:
First, Lalu Yadav softened his stand on the government. "No, we still don't have any plans of a no confidence motion. We just have four MPs. We will request the President to give us more time. Whenever she has the time, we will rush to her.
Hours later, he won a major reprieve in the Supreme Court. The CBI supported him, and said that the Bihar government cannot challenge his acquittal in a case that accused him of corruption. The CBI said the sole right to appeal against the verdict rests with it, as the prosecuting agency, and not with the state government.
The CBI claims that given that it was brought into the picture by the union government, and asked to investigate the case against Lalu, and his wife, Rabri Devi, and therefore, only the Centre can challenge Lalu's acquittal.
On Tuesday, Lalu, along with Mulayam Yadav, declared that he would withdraw support to the central government over the Women's Bill, which he does not support in its current form. Lalu's lawyer, Ram Jethmalani, said in court, ""Now that Lalu Prasad has fallen from power, I hope the central government has not changed its mind."
In 2006, a CBI court found Lalu and Rabri Devi not guilty of illegally collecting assets worth 50 lakhs during Lalu's term as Bihar Chief Minister from 1990-97. Because the CBI did not challenge that verdict, the Bihar government appealed to the Patna High Court in 2008. In the Supreme Court, its lawyers argued on Wednesday that given that the alleged crime was committed within the state, the Bihar government cannot be considered an irrelevant party.