Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court granted bail to Rashtriya Janata Jal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in the 139 crore Doranda Treasury scam case. In this case, a CBI special court had sentenced him to five years in prison.
Following his conviction and sentencing by a CBI court in February in a fodder scam case involving embezzlement of over ₹ 139 crore from Doranda treasury, Lalu was in custody.
Speaking with news agency PTI, Prabhat Kumar, counsel of Lalu Prasad said that HC accepted their petition for suspension of the sentence. He said, “The Jharkhand High court has accepted our petition for suspension of the sentence and has granted bail. We had pleaded that he has served half of his five-year sentence in this case. Prasad has already served 41 months in jail …We had submitted the trial court’s certified copy. The court has granted bail.”
Kumar said that by Tuesday, the high court order is expected to be communicated to the lower court. “We will submit the bail bond and obtain release order,” he added.
On April 8 Jharkhand High Court deferred hearing into a petition filed by the incarcerated leader challenging his conviction in a fodder scam case.
In fifth fodder scam case involving embezzlement of over ₹ 139 crore by Doranda treasury, a special CBI court in Ranchi fined ₹ 60 lakh and sent Lalu to jail for five years.
The CBI on April 8 informed Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh that the earlier order of the court to file a counter affidavit in the matter could not be complied with by the agency and pleaded for more time.
Lalu Yadav’s counsel Kapil Sibal told court that his client is in prison and has already served his imprisonment of five years in prison in the case and deserves to be released from custody.
On February 15, Lalu Prasad Yadav was convicted by the CBI Court.
On February 21, he was sentenced to five years imprisonment and fined ₹ 60 lakh in the fodder scam case. Lalu Yadav had held the finance portfolio of undivided Bihar, of which he was the chief minister, during the period of the scam. He had allegedly received kickbacks through the animal husbandry department.
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