The apex court has refused to cancel his bail for now. The court also refused to stay the Jharkhand High Court’s order and grant an order on the CBI’s petition.
Big relief for Lalu, Supreme Court upholds bail in fodder scam case: Former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday secured major relief from the Supreme Court in the Deoghar fodder scam case. The Supreme Court refused to cancel RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s bail and suspension of sentence in the fodder scam case.
A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale heard the matter and declined to interfere with the High Court’s order but directed it to expedite the hearing of Yadav’s appeal against the trial court’s judgment. In fact, the CBI filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the order of the Jharkhand High Court, in which Lalu Yadav was granted bail in the Deoghar fodder scam case. The investigating agency had sought cancellation of his bail. The apex court has refused to cancel his bail for now. The court also refused to stay the Jharkhand High Court’s order and grant an order on the CBI’s petition.
The Supreme Court directed the Jharkhand High Court to complete the hearing of the pending appeal in this case. The court said that the appeal should be disposed of within six months if possible. At the same time, the Supreme Court also clarified that the legal questions raised in the case have been kept open for now. That is, these points can be considered in detail during future hearings.
During the hearing of the case in the Supreme Court, ASG SV Raju, appearing for the CBI, argued that Lalu’s bail plea was rejected twice. But later the High Court granted him bail on the ground that he has served 50% of the sentence, which is actually wrong. Regardless of the fact that it is not a concurrent sentence.
According to PTI, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president and former Bihar CM RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav has been jailed in five cases related to the Rs 950 crore fodder scam. The scam took place between 1992 and 1995 when Lalu Yadav was the Chief Minister of Bihar and was also in charge of the Department of Finance and Animal Husbandry. Bihar was not even partitioned then. Lalu Yadav was among the prominent leaders who were convicted in the scam. He is currently on bail on grounds of ill health.
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