The Jharkhand High Court on Friday rejected bail to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, who was sentenced to jail in the Deoghar District Treasury case in the multi-crore fodder scam.
On January 6, 2018, CBI special judge Shiv Pal Singh awarded three-and-a-half years jail to Prasad and imposed ₹10 lakh fine on him in the RC 64(A)/96 case. It convicted him on December 23, 2017.Prasad had appealed in the Ranchi High Court against his conviction.
On Friday, noted advocate Surendra Singh argued on behalf of Prasad and appealed for bail to him on health grounds. This was opposed by the CBI counsel.
Prasad is now lodged in the Birsa Munda Central jail of Ranchi after being sentenced in the Deoghar District Treasury case and in the Chaibasa Treasury case.
Five-year jail term in Chaibasa District Treasury case
In the Chaibasa District Treasury case of excessive and fraudulent withdrawal of ₹33.67 crore during 1992-93, a special CBI court of S.S. Prasad awarded five-year jail term to Prasad and imposed a fine of ₹10 lakh on him on January 24, 2018. It convicted 50 accused persons, including Prasad and former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra, while acquitting six others.
Sentencing in first case
Prasad was sentenced in fodder scam case RC 20(A)/96 on September 30, 2013 for five years and barred from contesting elections for six years. Later, he got bail in the case.
Prasad is now been convicted in three fodder scam cases out of a total of six — five in Jharkhand and one in Patna — in which is facing trial.
In two other cases related to illegal withdrawal of money from the Dumka and Doranda District (both in Jharkhand) Treasuries, verdicts are likely to be pronounced in the coming months.
