RJD chief Lalu Prasad
Highlights
- SC granted bail to Lalu Yadav, allows him to walk free of jail
- The case relates to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 139.35 crore from Doranda Treasury
- The RJD supremo was sentenced to 5yrs in prison, slapped fine of Rs 60L by a special CBI court
Fodder scam: RJD chief Lalu Yadav is set to walk free as Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted him bail in Doranda treasury case. As per reports, his health conditions were taken into consideration. The 73-year-old Prasad has been in custody following his conviction and sentence by a CBI court in February in a fodder scam case involving embezzlement of over Rs 139 crore from Doranda treasury.
"The Jharkhand High court has accepted our petition for suspension of the sentence and has granted bail. We had pleaded that he has served half of his five-year sentence in this case. Prasad has already served 41 months in jail ...We had submitted the trial court's certified copy. The court has granted bail," said Prabhat Kumar, counsel of Lalu Prasad
"He has been granted bail on the uniform yardstick of half custody & health issues; he will be released soon. He will have to deposit Rs 1 lakh surety amount & Rs 10 lakh as fine," says his lawyer.
The RJD supremo was sentenced to five years in prison and slapped a fine of Rs 60 lakh by a special CBI court in Ranchi.
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Prasad had held the finance portfolio of undivided Bihar, of which he was the chief minister, during the period of the scam. He had allegedly received heavy kickbacks through the animal husbandary department.
Fake challans and bills were raised which were cleared by the finance department and money was released through the treasury. The scam in the Doranda treasury was pegged at Rs 139.35 crores during 1995-96.
