Anurag Kumar
NEW DELHI:Friday, the Supreme Court consented to hear an appeal by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging the bail granted to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Yadav in the fodder scam the following week.
On the basis of an urgent mention by additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju, a bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud consented to list the agency’s appeal on August 25.
The CBI challenged the parole granted to the former union minister on April 22, 2022, by the Jharkhand high court. During his time as Bihar’s chief minister, Lalu Yadav was convicted in five cases involving the illicit withdrawal of funds from state treasuries in Deoghar, Dumka, Chaibasa, and Doranda. The CBI’s petition has been joined with another appeal lodged by the Jharkhand government in April 2021 against the release on bail of the former chief minister.
The RJD was eager to criticise the CBI’s decision to request an early court hearing. Tejashwa Yadav, the deputy chief minister of Bihar and son of Lalu, stated that this was anticipated of the agency and that such efforts by the investigation agency will continue until the elections.
“Their greatest dread stems from Bihar, which explains why these events are occurring. It will persist until the elections…We have no fear. We are aware of our next steps. “We will fight and win,” Tejashwi Yadav declared.
The 75-year-old RJD leader was granted parole due to his poor health.
In April of last year, the Jharkhand government appealed an earlier order of parole granted to Lalu Yadav in April of 2021 to the nation’s highest court, where the agency’s petition is currently pending.
The 950 billion fodder scam involved substantial disbursements from state treasuries based on counterfeit bills in 1997, when Lalu was chief minister of the state and held the finance portfolio.
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In its appeal, the CBI asserted that the high court erred in concluding that Lalu had served half of his sentence. According to him, Lalu’s sentences were to run consecutively, one after the other, resulting in a 14-year sentence. According to the CBI’s filing, Lalu had served approximately one year in prison at the time he was granted parole.
