NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court has agreed to an early hearing on pleas filed by CBI seeking the cancellation of bail granted to RJD President Lalu Prasad by the Jharkhand High Court in connection with the multi-crore fodder scam.
As per the details available on the website of the apex court, the matter is likely to be taken up on next Friday, August 25.
The central probe agency mentioned the matter before Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and sought urgent listing of the pleas seeking the cancellation of the former legislator’s bail.
In April last year, the Jharkhand High Court granted bail to Lalu Prasad in connection with a fifth fodder scam case relating to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 139.5 crore from the Doranda treasury.
Notably, the Supreme Court had already issued notice on the CBI’s plea challenging the bail orders issued on April 17, 2021 and October 9, 2020, where the Jharkhand High Court had granted bail to the former Bihar CM in the case relating to fraudulent withdrawal of funds from Dumka Treasury and Chaibasa Treasury.
The multi million fodder scam took place in the Animal Husbandry Department in undivided Bihar when Lalu Prasad was the Chief Minister. The scam surfaced in 1996, and at the Patna High Court’s directive, the case was handed over to the CBI.
Lalu Prasad was convicted in four fodder scam cases in connection with fraudulent withdrawal of money from Deoghar, Dumka, and Chaibasa treasuries in Jharkhand. In the Doranda case, the special CBI court had awarded him a five-year jail term and imposed Rs 60 lakh fine. — IANS
