The Supreme Court has accepted the CBI’s application against the bail granted to Lalu Prasad Yadav, accused in the fodder scam, for an early hearing, increasing difficulties for the former Bihar Chief Minister. The top court said that it will hear the bail plea of Lalu Prasad Yadav on August 25. The CBI had challenged the bail granted to Lalu Yadav in the Dumka, Doranda, Chaibasa and Deoghar cases.
Earlier, on March 27, the Supreme Court had issued a notice to Lalu Prasad Yadav on another CBI petition. The Supreme Court had clubbed the CBI’s petition with the original petitions. The CBI had also demanded cancellation of the bail granted to Lalu Yadav in the Doranda treasury case. Lalu was ordered to be released on bail in the Doranda treasury case of Jharkhand. He was sentenced to five years in the fodder scam related to Doranda Treasury, and a fine of Rs 60 lakh was also imposed. Lalu Yadav has been called the main conspirator in the fodder scam. Now all the cases will be heard simultaneously before a single bench.
On April 4, 2022, the CBI had filed a petition against the bail granted to Lalu Yadav in two cases, on which the Supreme Court agreed. CBI challenges Jharkhand High Court’s bail order in which the CBI had said, “The basis Of the bail order is wrong. Lalu Yadav has not spent the required time in jail. The CBI has told the Supreme Court that the Jharkhand High Court, while accepting the bail plea, had said that Lalu Yadav has already served half the sentence.
The CBI has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against two decisions of the Jharkhand High Court regarding Lalu Yadav. In fact, the Jharkhand High Court had granted bail in the Deoghar treasury case on the basis that half of the sentence had passed and suspended the sentence. The CBI has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against this decision of the High Court. On April 17, 2021, the Jharkhand High Court granted bail to Prasad after completing half of his sentence in the Dumka treasury case related to the fodder scam.
This cleared the way for his release from jail. The apex court had on October 9, 2020, granted bail to Prasad in a case related to illegal withdrawal from the Chaibasa treasury in the fodder scam case. While sentencing Prasad to 14 years in jail in the Dumka case on March 24, 2018, the special CBI court in Ranchi also imposed a fine of Rs 60 lakh and Rs 30 lakh, respectively, under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Corruption Act. ,
The case pertains to the fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 3.13 crore from the Dumka treasury in the early 1990s. Jharkhand High Court granted bail to Lalu Yadav on 17 April 2021 and 9 October 2020 in different cases. On 4 April 2022, the Supreme Court decided to hear the case and issued a notice to Lalu Yadav.