Patna, April 2: Retired CBI Judge Munilal Paswan, whose court had acquitted Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and wife Rabri Devi in a disproportionate assets (DA) case, has landed in a spot. His full pension has been withheld after charges of judicial misconduct against him were prima facie established following an inquiry by the Patna High Court.

The Patna High Court had written to the state Government to obtain necessary permission to stop Paswan’s pension before going ahead with a departmental proceeding under Section 43 B of the Pension Rule. The state Government on Wednesday honoured the High Court’s directive to withhold the full pension of the retired judge till the probe by the High Court gets over.

“The state Government was bound to honour the directive of the High Court as there were not sufficient reasons to act on the contrary,” State Advocate General P K Shahi said.

Declining the directive was out of question as the state Government has already challenged the acquittal of Lalu and Rabri in the Patna High Court. The retired judge’s order to acquit them in the case will now be reviewed by the High Court.

The case, an offshoot of the multicrore fodder scam, had charged Lalu and Rabri of amassing properties worth Rs 46 lakh more than their known sources of income. A CBI Special Court had acquitted them in the case in December 2006.

As Additional District Judge (ADJ) of Patna, charges of judicial misconduct had been levelled against Paswan on two occasions for granting bail to accused. These allegations were inquired into by the Inspecting Judge of the High Court as well as the District Judge. Last week, the Registrar of the Patna High Court wrote to the Personnel Secretary of the state Government that the inquiry “prima-facie establishes charges of omission and commission” against the judge.

Both the cases were of 2006. In the first case, ADJ Munilal Paswan had granted bail to a person accused of raping a minor girl after the accused gave an affidavit that he had the girl’s consent. The girl’s parents had moved the High Court against the bail underlining that sexual intercourse with a minor girl even with her consent was illegal.

In the other case, the judge had granted bail to a notorious criminal of Patna, accused of extortion, after he, too, gave an affidavit saying that the police cases against him were false and fabricated.

Reacting over the development, JD(U)’s state president and MP Lalan Singh said they always knew that the track record of Paswan was doubtful. Singh and others had moved the Supreme Court in 2004 questioning Paswan’s appointment as Special Judge for trial of the sensitive case against Lalu Yadav. The apex court, however, had turned down their plea with a majority judgment. “Today, our charges are coming true,” Singh said.