Bihar Assembly polls are a few weeks away and as the political scene heats up the news of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav getting bail in a fodder scam will add another layer to the emerging political scenario. Yadav, was granted bail by Jharkhand High Court in a case related to a fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 35.62 crore from Chaibasa Treasury in the early 1990s.
राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष आदरणीय लालू प्रसाद जी को आधी सजा अवधि पूर्ण होने पर चौथे केस में जमानत मिल गयी है। अभी एक केस बाक़ी है जिसकी आधी सजा अवधि 9 नवंबर को पूर्ण होने पर वो बाहर आ सकेंगे। अनेक बीमारियों और उम्र के बावजूद भी नीतीश-बीजेपी ने तिकड़म कर उन्हें बाहर नहीं आने दिया।
— Rashtriya Janata Dal (@RJDforIndia) October 9, 2020
However, according to news reports, the RJD chief will not walk free yet, as he is serving time in another case related to Dumka treasury. He had been granted bail in Deoghar treasury case earlier. The bail granted today to the former Bihar chief minister is in the fodder scam case related to Chaibasa treasury, reported the Express News Service, and other media. This case involves “fraudulent withdrawals amounting to Rs 33.67 crore from the Chaibasa treasury in undivided Bihar,” when Prasad was CM.
The bail was granted by Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh on the grounds that the vertan politician had already “undergone half of the sentencing”. According to the bail order, Lalu Prasad will have to furnish two bail bonds of Rs 50,000 each and deposit security of Rs 50,000 in the court. News reports add that Prasad will also have to deposit the penalty of Rs 2 lakh which was awarded by a special CBI court to secure his bail. A CBI Court in Ranchi had sentenced Lalu Prasad Yadav to a five-year imprisonment in January 2018.
The court has also asked for Prasad’s medical reports and “the details of all those he has met during the course of his treatment at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi,” stated Express. He is currently at the Director’s Bungalow located in the premises of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) of Ranchi, the Express reported that this has been done, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The report quoted Yadav’s advocate Prabhat Kumar confirming that the RJD chief will remain in jail as his bail application is pending in another fodder scam case related to Dumka Treasury RC38/96. “Since half of the jail term was completed in RC68/96A; we had filed a petition in Jharkhand High Court seeking suspension of the sentencing, which was finally allowed by the honourable court on Friday,” he is quoted by ENS.
The news report added that after he was convicted by a Special CBI Court in Ranchi on December 23, 2017, in the second fodder scam case involving the illegal withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from Deoghar treasury, 72-year-old Lalu Prasad Yadav lodged in Birsa Munda Central jail at Ranchi, but was shifted to RIMS in view of his deteriorating health. He is known to be suffering from heart and kidney ailments.
Lalu Prasad Yadav, one of the best known political figures in Bihar has been convicted in four out of the five cases related to multi-crore fodder scam cases related to Chaibasa Treasury (RC20A/96) on September 30, 2013, another Chaibasa Treasury (RC68A/96) on January 24, 2018, Deoghar Treasury (RC 64A/96) on February 23, 2018 and Dumka Treasury (RC38A/96) on February 19. RC 47A/96, related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 139.35 crore from Doranda treasury in Ranchi, is still pending in a Special CBI Court in Ranchi, reported ENS.
Bihar goes to polls to elect the next 243-member Assembly soon. Votes will be cast in three phases, on October 28, November 3 and November 7, 2020. Votes will be counted on Nov 10. Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora announced on September 25, 2020, and the Model Code of Conduct has been in place since then.
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