In a strategic move, the jailed Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad has approached different CBI courts in Ranchi urging them to take him in judicial custody in four other fodder scam cases pending against him.
Lalu was convicted by the CBI court on September 30 in one of the five cases lodged against him.
Now lodged in the Birsa Munda Central Jail, Lalu was on Thursday sentenced for five years in jail.
Prasad has filed separate petitions in four fodder scam cases—RC 64 (A)/96, RC 68 (A)/96, RC 47 (A)/96, RC 38 (A)/96—pending in different CBI courts. Admitting Lalu’s petition, the courts took him in judicial custody in these cases also.
Legal experts said Lalu made the tactical move because once taken in judicial custody in these cases the period he would now remain in jail would be finally deducted from the ultimate punishment he would get if convicted in these cases.
Lalu’s lawyer Prabhat Kumar said before conviction his client had already served 288 days at different times.
“These 288 days would be finally deducted from the five years imprisonment he had been awarded after conviction in RC 20 (A)/96,” Kumar said.
{{/usCountry}}“These 288 days would be finally deducted from the five years imprisonment he had been awarded after conviction in RC 20 (A)/96,” Kumar said.
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