New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to interfere with the Jharkhand High Court’s order granting bail to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in one of the fodder scam cases, providing significant relief to the former Bihar chief minister.
A bench comprising Justices M M Sundresh and P B Varale declined to entertain the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) plea challenging the High Court’s July 2019 order that suspended Yadav’s sentence and granted him bail.
“We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned order…,” the bench observed.
While refusing to cancel Yadav’s bail, the Supreme Court directed the Jharkhand High Court to expedite the hearing of the pending appeals in the matter and dispose of them, preferably within six months.
The top court was hearing the CBI’s appeal against the High Court’s decision. The agency had argued that the High Court had “erroneously” suspended the sentence awarded by the trial court and released the RJD supremo on bail.
The case relates to the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from the Deoghar treasury, one of the cases linked to the multi-crore fodder scam.
Lalu Prasad Yadav was convicted by a special CBI court in the case and sentenced to three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment.
However, in July 2019, the Jharkhand High Court suspended his sentence and granted him bail after noting that he had already completed half of his jail term.
With the Supreme Court refusing to interfere with that order, Yadav’s bail will continue, while the High Court has been asked to fast-track the hearing of the pending appeals.