Judge who convicted Lalu Prasad applied for firearm licence

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was convicted by the court on December 23, 2017, in a Rs 950 crore fodder scam case (Express Archive)

The special CBI judge, who recently convicted and sentenced former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad to three-and-a-half years in jail in connection with a fodder scam case, has applied for a firearms licence.
According to official sources, Judge Shivpal Singh applied for a firearm licence with the district authorities in Ranchi some time ago. While confirming the application, a senior police officer said he was not in a position to divulge details.

An officer added that anybody is free to apply for a firearms licence. He added that he was not immediately aware of the reason behind the judge’s decision, which will become clear during the processing of the application.
The special CBI court had convicted Lalu and 15 others on December 23 last year in connection with fraudulent withdrawal of treasury funds to the tune of over Rs 89 lakh in Deoghar between 1992 and 1994. During arguments over the quantum of sentence, the judge had told Lalu in the court that his “well-wishers” were calling him up.