RANCHI: The Jharkhand High Court on Friday extended RJD Chief Lalu Prasad's provisional bail till August 20 on medical grounds with a direction to CBI to get all documents verified related the treatments he was undergoing in different hospitals.
Prasad, convicted and sentenced in four fodder scam cases, is currently on provisional bail of six weeks through a common order applicable to all cases against him which is expiring on August 15. "As of now, the provisional bail has been extended for another week, till August 20, while the final hearing will take place on August 17.
Meanwhile, the Court has asked CBI to verify all documents related to my client's treatment," said Prasad's Counsel Prabhat Kumar. The extension was given after the Court was informed that Prasad had once again been admitted to Asian Heart Hospital in Mumbai after pus formation was diagnosed by doctors where he had been operated for fistulae four weeks back, he added. "Moreover, his diabetes was also found to be increased following which the doctors have suggested three-month rest for him," said Kumar.
All documents in this regard have been submitted in the Court, he added. A six-week provisional bail was first granted by the Jharkhand High Court on May 11 for the purpose of medical treatment on the conditions of restraining himself from any political activity and had also been asked to submit medical reports before the Court. Before that, Prasad was lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail since December 23 after a Special CBI Court convicted and sentenced him for a three-and-half-year jail term in a fodder scam case RC64A/96. Subsequently, he was sentenced in three other cases related to fodder scam. EoM