RANCHI: Ahead of the Assembly polls in Bihar, RJD chief Lalu Prasad was granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court in a case related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 35.62 crore from Chaibasa treasury in early 1990s. The RJD leader, however, will have to remain in jail as his bail application related to the Dumka treasury is still pending in the Jharkhand High Court.
On Friday, Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh granted bail to Lalu on the ground of undergoing half of the five-year sentencing. The jailed RJD chief is currently admitted to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi due to his ailments. The HC asked Lalu to submit two personal bonds of Rs 50,000 each, and deposit penalty of Rs 2 lakh.
“The court granted bail to the RJD chief on the ground of completing half of the sentencing in the case,” said Lalu’s advocate Prabhat Kumar. “As half of the jail term was served, we had filed a petition in the High Court seeking suspension of the sentencing, which was allowed by the court on Friday.”
After being convicted by a CBI court in Ranchi on December 23, 2017 in the second fodder scam case involving illegal withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from Deoghar treasury, Lalu was lodged in the Birsa Munda Central jail in Ranchi. But he was shifted to RIMS as he is a heart patient with kidney ailments as well.
Lalu has been convicted in four out of the five cases related to the multi-crore fodder scam — two are related to fraudulent withdrawal of Chaibasa Treasury while one each is of Deoghar and Dumka treasuries. He has already secured bail in three cases.