Supreme Court upholds Lalu Yadav bail in Deoghar fodder scam case
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to interfere with the Jharkhand High Court's 2019 order suspending the sentence of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to interfere with the Jharkhand High Court's 2019 order suspending the sentence of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in the Deoghar treasury fodder scam case. At the same time, the top court requested the High Court to dispose of Yadav's pending criminal appeal within six months. A bench of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice PB Varale observed that nearly seven years had passed since the High Court granted suspension of sentence and found no reason to interfere at this stage. The bench noted that the appeal has remained pending since 2018 and said it should be heard expeditiously. Read Full Story "Upon hearing the learned counsels, we are not inclined to interfere with the order particularly since seven years have elapsed since then.
The appeals are of the year 2018 and therefore it will only be appropriate to request the High Court to expedite the hearing," the Bench observed, according to Live Law. The State of Jharkhand had challenged the High Court's July 12, 2019 order, arguing that Yadav was granted suspension of sentence on an incorrect calculation that he had completed 50 percent of his jail term. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju contended that sentences awarded in multiple fodder scam convictions should run consecutively under Section 427 of the Code of Criminal Procedure unless directed otherwise, making the High Court's calculation legally flawed. Appearing for Lalu Prasad Yadav, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal opposed the State's arguments, saying the question of whether sentences would run concurrently or consecutively should be decided at the final hearing of the appeal.
He argued that the High Court had consistently granted suspension of sentence to convicts who had completed half of their sentence and had exercised its discretion accordingly. Taking note of the prolonged pendency of the appeal, the Supreme Court refused to set aside the suspension of sentence and instead directed that the criminal appeal be decided within six months. Lalu Prasad Yadav was convicted by a CBI court in the Deoghar treasury fodder scam case and sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Jharkhand High Court had granted him bail in 2019 after holding that he had completed more than half of his sentence and noting that similarly placed co-convicts had received the same relief.
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