Supreme Court adjourns hearing on CBI’s pleas seeking cancellation of RJD president Lalu Prasad's bail

Supreme Court adjourns hearing on CBI’s pleas seeking cancellation of RJD president Lalu Prasads bail
x
Highlights

The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned hearing on pleas filed by CBI seeking cancellation of bail granted to RJD president Lalu Prasad in connection with multi-crore fodder scam.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned hearing on pleas filed by CBI seeking cancellation of bail granted to RJD president Lalu Prasad in connection with multi-crore fodder scam.

“Will hear this on a non-miscellaneous day,” said a bench comprising Justices A.S. Boppana and M.M. Sundresh, questioning as to why the batch of pleas was listed today (August 25).

Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, appearing for CBI, said that the central probe agency had mentioned the matter before CJI D.Y. Chandrachud seeking urgent listing of the pleas seeking cancellation of the former legislator’s bail.

He contended that the bail was granted to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief on an erroneous assumption of law by the Jharkhand High Court.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, defending Lalu Prasad, said that his client has kidney ailment and now the CBI wants to put him back in jail.

The court did not hear the case on merits and decided to post it in October, 2023. “We will hear it ….List in October,” it said.

Notably, days other than Monday and Friday are classified as non-miscellaneous days in the Supreme Court, when regular hearing is undertaken by different benches.

In April last year, the Jharkhand High Court granted bail to Lalu Prasad in connection with a fifth fodder scam case relating to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 139.5 crore from the Doranda treasury.

Notably, the Supreme Court had already issued notice on CBI’s plea challenging the bail orders issued on April 17, 2021 and October 9, 2020, where the Jharkhand High Court had granted former Bihar CM bail in the case

relating to fraudulent withdrawal of funds from Dumka Treasury and Chaibasa Treasury.

The multi-million fodder scam took place in the Animal Husbandry Department in undivided Bihar when Lalu Prasad was the Chief Minister.

The fodder scam surfaced in 1996 and at the Patna High Court's directive, the case was handed over to the CBI.

Lalu Prasad was convicted in four fodder scam cases in connection with fraudulent withdrawal of money from Deoghar, Dumka, and Chaibasa treasuries in Jharkhand.

In the Doranda case, the special CBI court had awarded him a five years jail term and imposed Rs 60 lakh fine.

Show Full Article
Print Article
Next Story
More Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENTS