PATNA, July 21: The Patna High Court (HC) today asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) not to arrest Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam case (RC 20-a/96) till the completion of hearing on his anticipatory bail application.Justice DS Dhaliwal, who resumed hearing on Laloo's anticipatory bail petition and adjourned it mid-way till tomorrow, said,``Since the hearing on the petition has commenced, the arrest of the petitioner is stayed till his petition is disposed of.''Before adjourning the hearing, Justice Dhaliwal asked the CBI to continue its undertaking, given to the court on July 11, that it would not arrest the accused till today, until the hearing in the matter was complete.The Court was adjourned after 45 minutes of hearing to condole the death of senior advocate Laxman Singh.The Court heard the counsel of the Chief Minister and the CBI.CBI counsel Rakesh Kumar insisted that the investigating agency should no longer be bound with the undertaking of not arresting the petitioner till July 21.Justice Dhaliwal, however, ruled that the CBI should continue its earlier commitment - not to arrest the accused till the hearing was over.Besides Laloo, State Animal Husbandry Minister Bhola Ram Toofani, State Labour Minister Vidya Sagar Nishad, and former Union Minister Chandra Dev Verma - all accused in the fodder scam and figuring in case no RC 20A/96 - had filed their anticipatory bail application in the HC, as they were denied bail by the designated CBI court earlier.The HC has heard the applications of Laloo and Toofani, while the applications of Verma and Nishad would be heard later.Earlier, the HC had granted bail to former State Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra in the same case. The designated court had rejected his bail petition.While pleading the case on behalf of the Chief Minister, senior counsel Rajendra Singh contended that his client had been falsely implicated by the CBI, which was trying to put him behind bars without any substantial evidence.To seek re-election Reacting sharply to the jibes of Janata Dal leaders Ram vilas Paswan and Sharad Yadav against him, Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav today offered to resign from his Assembly seat on August 1 and seek re-election from Raghopur. Laloo, however, refused to resign as Chief Minister.
