Rejecting the arguments given by the CBI, the Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted bail to RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, with a pre-condition that he will deposit Rs 10 lakh in the court.
Yadav moved the Jharkhand High Court challenging his conviction in fodder scam case RC47A/96, in which he had been awarded a five-year jail term and a fine of Rs 60 lakh by the special CBI Court in Ranchi.
“The Jharkhand High Court has granted bail to Lalu Yadav on the condition that he will have to deposit a fine of Rs 10 lakh in the court. We had filed bail application on the ground of completing half of the sentencing awarded by the special CBI Court as he has already completed 42 months of sentencing in this case, which was considered by the High Court, and hence it granted bail to him,” said Lalu Yadav’s counsel Prabhat Kumar.
The CBI, opposing the bail application, argued that Lalu has not yet completed half of the sentencing awarded by the trail court, which was rejected by the court, he added.
Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh was on 8 April informed by CBI, which is investigating the scam 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.
Prasad’s counsel Kapil Sibbal had told the court that his client has already served more than half of the sentence of five years in prison in the case and deserves to be released from custody.
Prasad was convicted by the CBI Court here on 15 February.
On 21 February he was sentenced to five years imprisonment and fined Rs 60 lakh in the fodder scam case.
Prasad 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 husbandary department.
Fake challans and bills were raised which were cleared by the finance department and money was released through the treasury.
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