In a relief to Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad, the Supreme Court on Friday granted him bail in a fodder scam case in which he was sentenced to undergo imprisonment for five years by a trial court in Jharkhand. He was lodged in a Ranchi jail on September 30.
A Bench of Chief Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi granted bail to Mr. Prasad, after hearing senior counsel Ram Jethmalani and senior counsel P.H. Parekh, appearing for Mr. Prasad, and Additional Solicitor-General (ASG) P.P. Malhotra for the CBI. The ASG did not express any opposition to counsel seeking bail for Mr. Prasad . He merely said “he [Mr. Prasad] should not leave the country.” .
The Bench said: “it is brought to our notice that out of the sentence of five years, the petitioner had spent 10 months in jail as an under-trial and three months after conviction. It is also brought to our notice that 37 of the 44 accused have been released on bail. Further, similarly placed persons who were convicted for five years sentence were also released on bail. Taking note of all these aspects we are inclined to grant bail to the petitioner subject to the conditions of the trial court.”
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Mr. Prasad’s petition was against the October 31 judgment of the Jharkhand High Court, rejecting bail for him.