Ranchi, March 15: The judgement in the fourth case of multi-crore fodder scam against former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra was deferred today by a CBI special court after the RJD leader's counsel filed a plea. No date has been fixed yet for the pronouncement of judgement in the case which is related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 3.13 crore from Dumka Treasury (RC 38A/96).

Special CBI Judge Shiv Pal Singh put off the judgement in view of the counsel for Lalu Prasad yesterday filing a petition under 319 CrPC, asking that the then three officials of the Accountant General of Office in the 1990s be made a party to the case under 319 CrPC. Prasad's counsel said he had filed the petition yesterday and re-submitted it today after correcting some typographical mistakes.

The court today heard the petition and would decide it tomorrow, according to Prasad's counsel. Besides Prasad and Mishra, there are 29 accused, including former IAS officers and AHD officials, in the Dumka Treasury case.

Earlier, Prasad was convicted in three fodder cases while Mishra was convicted in two fodder cases. A special CBI court on January 24 this year sentenced Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra to five years in jail in a fodder scam case related to fradulent withdrawl of Rs 37.62 crore from Chaibasad treasury.

Earlier on January 6 this year, a special CBI court had sentenced Prasad to three-and-a-half years in jail and fined Rs 10 lakh in a fodder scam case relating to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from the Deoghar Treasury 21 years ago.

In 2013, Prasad was convicted in the first fodder scam case involving withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore from the Chaibasa treasury. Prasad has been in Birsa Munda jail at Ranchi since December 23 last year after being convicted in the second case pertaining to illegal withdrawal of money from Deogarh treasury.

The fifth case related to fradulent withdrawal of Rs 139 crore from treasury of Doranda in Ranchi is pending with the court. The over Rs 900-crore fodder scam cases relate to illegal withdrawal of money from government treasury in different districts in the Animal Husbandry department in undivided Bihar in 1990s when RJD was in power in the state.