Fodder scam: Jharkhand HC grants bail to Lalu Prasad Yadav in Chaibasa Treasury case

RANCHI: Ahead of Assembly polls in Bihar, RJD chiefLalu Prasad Yadav, who has been convicted in several fodder scam cases, was granted bail by Jharkhand High Court in a case related to RC 68A/96, pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 35.62 crore from Chaibasa Treasury in the early 1990s.

Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh granted bail to Lalu on the ground of having undergone half of the sentencing already. The veteran leader will have to furnish two bail bonds of Rs 50,000 each and deposit security of Rs 50,000 in the court.

A CBI Court in Ranchi had sentenced five-year imprisonment for Lalu Prasad in January 2018. He is currently admitted to the Director’s Bungalow located in the premises of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) of Ranchi in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yadav’s advocate Prabhat Kumar said that the RJD chiefwill remain in jail as his bail application is still pending in another fodder scam case related to Dumka Treasury RC38/96.

“Since half of the jail term was completed in RC68/96A; we had filed a petition in Jharkhand High Court seeking suspension of the sentencing, which was finally allowed by the honourable court on Friday,” he said.

After being convicted by a Special CBI Court in Ranchi on December 23, 2017, in the second fodder scam case involving the illegal withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from Deoghar treasury, the 72-year-old RJD chiefwas lodged in Birsa Munda Central jail in Ranchi but was shifted to RIMS looking at his deteriorating health conditions.

Lalu, a heart patient with kidney ailments, has also undergone a fistula operation at Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai. He has so far has been convicted in four out of the five cases related to multi-crore fodder scam cases related to Chaibasa Treasury (RC20A/96) on September 30, 2013, another Chaibasa Treasury (RC68A/96) on January 24, 2018, Deoghar Treasury (RC 64A/96) on February 23, 2018 and Dumka Treasury (RC38A/96) on February 19. RC 47A/96, related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 139.35 crore from Doranda treasury in Ranchi, is still pending in a Special CBI Court in Ranchi.

The RJD chiefhas already secured bail in in Deoghar Treasury (RC 64A/96), Chaibasa Treasury (RC 68A/96) and another Chaibasa Treasury (RC20A/96) related case.

The case pertains to the fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 3.5 crore from the Dumka treasury by Animal Husbandry Department officials between 1991 and 1996 when Yadav served as the State's chiefMinister.