Supreme Court Upholds Bail for Lalu Prasad Yadav in Fodder Scam Case

Supreme Court's Decision on Lalu Prasad Yadav's Bail

New Delhi: On Tuesday, the Supreme Court declined to intervene in the Jharkhand High Court's decision to grant bail to Lalu Prasad Yadav, the leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, in connection with a fodder scam case.

A bench comprising Justices M M Sundresh and P B Varale urged the high court to expedite the resolution of the pending appeals, recommending that they be concluded within a six-month timeframe.

This ruling came as the Supreme Court was addressing a plea from the CBI, which contested a July 2019 ruling by the high court.

The bench stated, "We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned order..."

The CBI argued that the high court had mistakenly suspended the sentence imposed by the trial court, allowing Yadav to be released on bail in one of the fodder scam cases.

Yadav, who previously served as the chief minister of Bihar, was found guilty in a case involving the Deoghar treasury, which included allegations of misappropriation amounting to Rs 89 lakh.

The special CBI court sentenced him to three and a half years in prison.

The high court had suspended this sentence and granted bail, citing that Yadav had already served half of his term for the fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from the Deoghar treasury.