Fodder scam: No relief for Lalu this year as bail hearing deferred for six weeks

The RJD chief had sought bail in the Dumka treasury case on the ground that he had completed half (42 months & 28 days) of the seven-year sentence awarded to him in it

The Jharkhand high court on Friday deferred hearing on RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s bail plea in connection with one of the fodder scam cases for six weeks after the leader’s lawyer sought time for filing a reply to the CBI contentions.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.(HT archive)

The former Bihar chief minister was convicted in three fodder scam cases in quick succession. While he secured bail in two cases, he sought bail in the Dumka treasury case on the ground that he had completed half (42 months & 28 days) of the seven-year sentence awarded to him in the case.

But, in its reply, the CBI said that Yadav had only completed 34 months and some days in custody in this case, which is still short of about eight months to complete half the sentence.

Yadav’s lawyer Prabhat Kumar sought six weeks to furnish a detailed computation of the period served by his client in custody, with certified copies of court’s order sheets.

Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh then posted the matter for further hearing after six weeks.

This particular fodder scam case against Yadav relates to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs3.76 crore from Dumka treasury during December 1995 and January 1996.

The leader has been undergoing treatment in custody at Ranchi’s Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) for over two years.

His lawyer said, “According to our calculation, he has completed 42 months and 28 days in prison. On the next date, we will furnish certified copies of court order sheets in support of our claim. From these order sheets, it can be easily computed how many days he has spent in jail in different periods in this case.”