In a major development ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Supremo, Lalu Prasad Yadav was granted bail from the Jharkhand High Court in connection with a fodder scam case relating to Chaibasa treasury. The former Bihar Chief Minister is serving jail term after being convicted in four out of five fodder scam cases in the State.
However, the RJD chief, presently incarcerated and lodged at RIMS Director’s vacant bungalow in Ranchi will not be freed as he is yet to secure bail in another case related to Dumka treasury. Earlier, he has been granted bail in Deoghar Treasury (RC 64A/96), Chaibasa Treasury (RC 68A/96) and another Chaibasa Treasury (RC20A/96) related case.
The court of Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh granted bail to Lalu on the ground of having served half of the sentence already. The RJD leader will have to furnish two bail bonds of Rs 50,000 each and deposit security of Rs 50,000 in the court.
The case concerned withdrawal of Rs 33.67 crore from the Chaibasa treasury during the year 1992-93, when the RJD leader was Chief Minister of Bihar.
Yadav has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment in the Dumka treasury case, in which his half term will be completed on November 9. If RJD supremo gets relief in Dumka case then he will be able to come out of jail. The Dumka case pertains to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 3.5 crore from the Dumka treasury by officials from Animal Husbandry Department between the years 1991 and 1996 when Yadav was the CM of undivided Bihar.
The leader was shifted to Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) in the State Capital after deteriorating health conditions.
He has been suffering from Diabetes and Hypertensions. He is a Chronic Kidney patient.
Yadav was granted bail in Deoghar treasury case by the Jharkhand High Court in December 2013 in one of the fodder scam cases on grounds that he had half of the 3.5 years of imprisonment awarded to him. The former Bihar CM will not directly take part in Bihar Assembly elections, which will be held in three phases starting from October 28.
The dates of Bihar Assembly elections 2020 were announced on September, 25 by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the polls will be conducted from October 28 to November 7 in three phases. The counting of votes will take place on November, 10.
Meanwhile, there was a wave of happiness among the party workers when the RJD supremo got bail from the Jharkhand High Court. A large number of RJD supporters celebrated the decision by distributing sweets here on Friday.