The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday rejected the bail petition of Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad in connection with three fodder scam cases. Imprisoned, Mr. Prasad is currently admitted to a government hospital in Ranchi.
Earlier on January 4, after hearing the arguments on bail petition of Mr. Prasad, Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh had reserved the order. Counsel Kapil Sibal had argued for Mr. Prasad citing his bad health. “The court on Thursday rejected the bail petition of Mr. Prasad,” CBI lawyer Rajiv Sinha said.
Imprisoned since December 23, 2017, Mr. Prasad is being treated at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), a government hospital in Ranchi.
RJD likely to move Supreme Court
RJD MLA and its spokesperson Shakti Yadav said all partymen and people of Bihar were hurt over the court’s decision. “Now we’ll approach Supreme Court for relief”, he added.
Soon after the news broke, a pall of gloom descended on 10, Circular Road residence where Mr. Prasad’s family members live.
Convicted in the Dumka, Deoghar and Chaibasa treasury cases, Prasad is lodged in the Birsa Munda Central jail in Ranchi since December 23, 2017.
The ₹900-crore fodder scam cases are related to fraudulent withdrawal of money from treasuries in the Animal Husbandry Department in the early 1990s in the then undivided Bihar when Prasad was the chief minister.
On December 11 last, Prasad filed the petition in the High Court, requesting bail in three fodder scam cases in which he has been convicted, citing old age and poor health.
In his petition, he said that he was now 71-years old and was suffering from diabetes, blood pressure and other ailments. He also pointed out that he had obtained bail in one of the cases.
Prasad has been awarded 3.5 years of jail on January 6, 2018 in the Deoghar fodder scam case, and five-year jail term in the Chaibasa treasury case. He has been sentenced to 14 years of jail in the Dumka treasury case under two separate sections of the IPC. He got bail in one of the two Chaibasa treasury cases.
Political leaders and his family members, including two sons, have been meeting Prasad in the paying ward of RIMS.
