Jharkhand High Court on Friday reserved its order on bail petitions of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad in three fodder scam cases.
The hearing on Lalu’s bail plea took place before justice Aparesh Kumar Singh in fodder scam cases related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 3.13 crore from Dumka treasury (RC 38A/96), Rs 89 lakh from Deoghar treasury (RC 64A/96) and 33.63 crores from the Chaibasa treasury (RC68A/96).
Pleading the case of RJD supremo, noted counsel Kapil Sibal said that the former should be granted bail due to his age and poor health condition. He said that Lalu is suffering from various ailments including hypertension, diabetes and kidney problem and is taking 17 medicines daily.
Sibal also said so far there is lack of evidence regarding conspiracy of the RJD leader in the scams. He also stated that with general elections scheduled to held in the coming months Lalu needs time to manage his party affairs for the polls.
Meanwhile, CBI lawyer Rajiv Sinha opposed the bail petition while claiming that Lalu did not take step to stop fraudulent withdrawals from various treasuries though he knew about it. He pointed out that bail petition of Lalu Prasad in connection with the Deoghar treasury was already rejected by HC on merits.
It may be stated here that Lalu has been sentenced to 14 years in fodder scam related to Dumka treasury, five years in connection with Chaibasa treasury and 3.5 years in Deoghar treasury case.