No relief for Lalu Prasad! Jharkhand HC rejects bail plea for the second time
New Delhi, April 21: Placing the cards incorrectly, everything is not in favor of RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. Sentenced to jail for fodder scam, Lalu Prasad had appealed for an interim bail with the Jharkhand High Court. However the court has rejected the plea and has sought his medical reports from hospitals in Ranchi and New Delhi. Hearing on the petition will be conducted on May 4.
Stating the courts verdict, Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh has sought Yadav’s medical records from Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), where he was initially admitted, and AIIMS. Yadav’s lawyer, Prabhat Kumar, said the court also asked CBI to file a counter affidavit on the matter.
This is the second time the HC has rejected Yadav’s bail plea. On February 23, while rejecting his bail petition, Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh had observed that bail could have been considered had Yadav spent at least half of the prison terms he has been awarded. The judge also said the Rs 1,000-crore fodder scam in united Bihar in the mid-1990s seemed to have been committed in his knowledge.
Lalu Prasad Yadav was sentenced to seven years in jail in the fourth fodder scam case. He was also fined with Rs 30 lakhs. The fourth fodder scam involves fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 3.13 crore from the treasury of Dumka, now in Jharkhand, but was in Bihar when Lalu was the chief minister.
In other cases, Lalu Prasad has also been sentenced to jail for five and three and half years. The sentence will be carried out separately and will not be combined. He was charged under various sections criminal conspiracy.
Lalu had got 5 years jail term in the first case, amd three-and-a-half years in the second case and another five years in a third case and is presently lodged inside the Birsa Munda jail in Ranchi.