Lalu Prasad Yadav spends another night in jail as bail formalities remain incomplete, may be freed tomorrow

The Jharkhand High Court last week granted six-week provisional bail to Prasad on medical grounds in the fodder scam cases he has been convicted in.
Lalu Prasad Yadav. (PTI Photo)
Lalu Prasad Yadav. (PTI Photo)

PATNA: Even after getting a six-week provisional bail from Jharkhand High Court, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav had to spend the second night in a Ranchi jail as the formalities of his bail could not be completed on Tuesday.

The former Bihar chief minister’s lawyers and hundreds of his supporters reached the special CBI court in Ranchi hoping that his bail bonds would be filed and the order for his release from jail would be issued. But they were disheartened to find that the HC’s provisional bail order, issued on May 11, was yet to reach the CBI special court.

“The courts’ functioning duration for the day was up to 12 noon. The HC order could not come to the CBI court by that time. We hope to get it on Wednesday,” said Prabhat Kumar, one of Yadav’s lawyers, to reporters.

Yadav, 69, who returned to Birsa Munda Central Jail at Hotwar near Ranchi on Monday after his three-day parole expired, is expected to be released from jail on Wednesday, added Kumar. Yadav was granted parole to attend his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav’s wedding ceremony, which took place in Patna on May 12.

Delay in Yadav’s release from jail despite the bail granted by the HC on medical grounds saddened his supporters. At least six senior RJD leaders from across Bihar and Jharkhand had come to the jail hoping to meet Yadav upon his release.

“Considering the fact that he (Yadav) remains ill and was admitted at a hospital in Ranchi before leaving for Patna on parole, his continued stay in jail could be bad for his health. We expect his release from jail by Wednesday,” said Bhola Yadav, RJD national general secretary and legislator.

In Patna, the RJD chief’s family members were unhappy due to the delay in his release from jail. “They were expecting that he (Lalu) would return home by the evening flight. They are also making arrangements for his treatment at special health institutes in Maharashtra and Karnataka,” said a source close to the family.

Lalu Prasad Yadav has been convicted in four cases of Bihar’s Rs 1,000-crore fodder scam and handed prison sentences totalling 27 years and a half.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com