Convicted former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad appears before the special CBI court in fodder scam in Ranchi on Thursday. (HT File Photo)

Ranchi’s special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge Shivpal Singh, who convicted former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad last month in a corruption case, applied for revolver licenses for himself and his two children.

Singh, a resident of 27 judges’ colony, Kanke road in Ranchi, applied for the arms licenses last October and also paid the prescribed fee of Rs 1,000 each for an application for himself, his son and daughter .

Police officials refused to comment on the issue but HT viewed Singh’s application where ‘personal defence’ was listed as the reason for seeking the licence.

“It is highly unusual for a sitting judge to apply for a revolver licence,” said a senior official at the district collector’s office.

Singh first grabbed headlines last June when Prasad’s trial began in a 21-year-old fodder scam case. In August, Prasad charged Singh of misbehaving with a defense witness and filed a petition in the high court for transferring his case from Singh’s court to another judge.

Two days before pronouncing the sentence in January, Singh had hinted that he had received phone calls from Prasad’s well wishers but he would follow the law.

On January 6, Singh handed down a three-and-a-half years prison term, and a fine of Rs 10 lakh to Lalu in the case pertaining to illegal withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from Deoghar treasury between 1991 and 1994, in the second of five fodder scam cases against him.

Singh is currently presiding over a trial where Prasad and others are accused of fraudulently withdrawing Rs 3.3 crore from the Dumka treasury in the 90s.

Police refused to divulge the age of Singh’s children but an official familiar with the matter said they were in their early twenties. Singh is 54 years old.

The district administration said it has initiated the mandatory police verification in the matter.

“Verification has been completed and report forwarded to the authorities,” said a police officer at the Sukhdeo Nagar police station, which oversees the locality where Singh lives.

Ranchi senior superintendent of police Kuldeep Dwivedi last month had forwarded a letter to the concerned police station seeking a detailed verification report in the prescribed format. HT has inspected the SSP’s letter.

“If he has applied, it will be processed as per the rules,” Dwivedi said, refusing to share any information.

Ranchi Arms Magistrate Rajesh Singh said, “I won’t comment on personal issue of any individual.”

As per a notification issued by the district administration in 2016, the inquiry officer would have to give his/her clear opinion about the applicant’s real necessity of arms and actual threat to life.