The Supreme Court on Monday admitted two appeals filed by the Jharkhand government opposing the bail granted to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav in two separate fodder scam cases where he was enlarged on bail by the Jharkhand high court in October 2020 and April 2021.
A bench of justices L Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai issued notice on the two appeals challenging the high court orders of bail granted to the 73-year old former Union Minister who was has been sentenced in four separate fodder scam cases in which he is suffering consecutive sentence of 14 years. The cases in appeal in the top court relate to the Chaibasa and Dumka treasury scams during his tenure as chief minister of Bihar.
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.
Additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju who argued the appeals told the top court that the high court committed an error in concluding that the accused had undergone half the sentence. According to him, Lalu’s sentence was to run consecutively, i.e. one after the other, which resulted in his sentence to be 14 years. At the time of granting bail, Raju said that Lalu had only undergone about one year imprisonment.
Besides Chaibasa and Dumka, the other fourth scam against Lalu where he stands convicted pertains to illegal withdrawals from Deoghar treasury .Two months ago, he was convicted in a fifth fodder case for embezzlement worth ₹139 crore where he was punished with five years in jail and fined ₹60 lakh.
Lalu has been in jail since December 2017 and was released in April last year after obtaining bail from the Jharkhand high court.
{{/usCountry}}Lalu has been in jail since December 2017 and was released in April last year after obtaining bail from the Jharkhand high court.
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