Siwan: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was present in a district court in Siwan district of Bihar on Friday in relation to a 15-year-old Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violation case, relating to the 2011 Daraunda Assembly by-election.
Lalu Prasad Yadav appeared in the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM-I), Arvind Kumar Singh.
He attended in person as he respects the judiciary and according to the court’s orders, Senior RJD leader and former Bihar Assembly Speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary said.
“In accordance with the order of the honourable court, our leader Lalu Prasad Yadav is appearing in the case related to the Model Code of Conduct during the Daraunda By-election, under which a violation case was registered against him. The court had directed that he must appear, and it is for that purpose he has arrived,” Choudhary said.
“We have always believed in the judiciary and we respect the court’s orders.”
What happened in the 2011 Daraunda By-Election Case?
In October 2011, Daraunda Assembly by-election was being contested in Siwan district. The by-election came into play after current Janata Dal (United) MLA Jagmato Devi passed away.
Lalu Prasad Yadav was alleged to have travelled to Daraunda to campaign for RJD candidate Parmeshwar Singh. However, he reached late to the rally and went ahead with his speech despite prohibitory orders (Section 144) and restrictions under the Loudspeaker Act.
In the by-election, district electoral officials alleged that no permission was given by the administration to use the public address system.
This led to election magistrates and local police coming onto the stage and turning the sound system off. They also removed the microphone from the podium. This caused an uproar amongst party supporters.
FIR filed against Lalu Yadav and RJD Candidate
An FIR was filed against Lalu Prasad Yadav and candidate Parmeshwar Singh for violating the election laws.
However, Parmeshwar Singh who was an accused passed away during the lengthy trial process.
Charges were framed against Lalu Prasad Yadav. He was then asked to appear in court.
After appearing in court on Friday, the RJD chief was released.