The Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted bail to former Bihar chief minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in a fodder scam case related to the illegal withdrawal of Rs 139.35Crore from Doranda Treasury.
His lawyer Prabhat Kumar said that the court of Justice Apresh Kumar Singh granted him bail on his health condition and also considered the fact that Lalu Prasad Yadav had completed half of the sentencing period.
The lawyer said that the court granted him bail on the condition that he would deposit Rs One lakh surety amount and Rs 10 lakh as fine.
On February 21, the special CBI court of Sudhanshu Kumar Shashi awarded him five years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 60 lakh in the fodder scam case RC 47 A/96 related to the fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 139.35 Crores from Doranda treasury of Ranchi during 1995-96.
It was the fifth case in which Lalu Prasad was convicted. But he was on bail in four cases except for Doranda treasury. He was taken into judicial custody after conviction.
On February 15 the court convicted him and on February 21 the court pronounced the quantum of punishment to Lalu Prasad and 74 other convicts. Lalu Prasad filed a bail petition on February 24. Senior Supreme Court lawyer Kapil Sibal had appeared on behalf of Lalu Prasad.
Lalu Prasad in his petition claimed that he has become very old and he is suffering from different ailments hence he should be given bail on the health ground. He further claimed that in this case, he has already undergone half of the custody period hence the bail should be denied to him. His lawyer claimed that before the conviction, in this case, he had spent three years and nineteen days in jail.
The CBI said that Lalu Prasad has not spent three years and nineteen days in jail in this case hence it is wrong to say that he has spent half of the total sentencing period.
His supporters were excited over the bail. Md Irfan who is an attendant of Lalu Prasad said that he will be released very soon. Necessary papers required for release are being sent to the Birsa Munda Central Jail authority,” said Irfan.
