The Jharkhand High Court granted bail to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad in a case related to the fodder scam on Saturday. The case involves the deceptive withdrawal of Rs 3.5 crore from the Dumka treasury by Animal Husbandry Department officials between 1991 and 1996, while Lalu was Bihar’s chief minister.
The trial court sentenced him to seven years in prison. His bail application was later denied in the sessions court. Lalu had already served 3.5 years in prison, according to his lawyer.
Lalu, 73, who was convicted in four cases related to the fodder scam, has already obtained bail in the other three cases and is expected to walk free.
According to Niraj Ravi, an assisting lawyer to CBI counsel Rajiv Sinha, while delivering the order, Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh stated that the RJD chief had served half of his sentence in the case.
Lalu is receiving treatment at AIIMS in New Delhi. After his health deteriorated, he was transferred to the hospital from the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi on January 23. Lalu has been in the hospital since August of this year.
Kapil Sibal, who was present in court virtually, had previously stated that the ailing RJD supremo had served more than half of the sentence imposed on him and urged the court to release him on bail.