CBI moves Supreme Court to get Lalu Yadav’s bail cancelled, hearing on Aug 25
Lalu Yadav’s son and Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi said that this was expected from CBI and such efforts by the agency will continue till the 2024 elections
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to list next week an appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging the bail granted to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Yadav in the fodder scam.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud agreed to list the agency’s appeal on August 25 on an urgent mention by additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju.
CBI last year challenged the bail granted to the former union minister by the Jharkhand high court on April 22, 2022. Lalu Yadav has been convicted in five cases related to fraudulent withdrawal of money from state treasuries situated at Deoghar, Dumka, Chaibasa and Doranda during his tenure as chief minister in Bihar. The CBI plea has been tagged with another appeal filed by the Jharkhand government against bail granted to the former chief minister in April 2021.
The RJD was quick to attack the CBI’s move to approach the court for an early hearing. Bihar’s deputy chief minister and Lalu’s son Tejashwi Yadav said that this was expected from the agency and such efforts by the probe agency will continue till the elections.
“Their greatest fear is from Bihar and hence these things are happening. It will continue till the elections...We are not scared. We are clear about the way forward. We will fight and win,” said Tejashwi Yadav.
The 75-year-old RJD supremo secured bail citing ill health.
The agency’s plea was tagged last year in April with an appeal pending the top court by the Jharkhand government where an earlier order of bail granted to Lalu Yadav in April 2021 is under challenge.
The ₹950 crore fodder scam involved large disbursals from state treasuries based on fake bills during 1997 when Lalu was the chief minister and held the finance portfolio in the state.
CBI in its appeal told the apex court that the high court committed an error in concluding that Lalu had undergone half the sentence. According to him, Lalu’s sentence was to run consecutively, one after the other, which resulted in his sentence being 14 years. At the time of granting bail, Lalu had only undergone about one-year imprisonment, the CBI plea stated.