Former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav received a significant legal reprieve on Tuesday after the Supreme Court refused to cancel the bail granted to him in the Deoghar fodder scam case. The apex court declined to interfere with the Jharkhand High Court's order granting bail and instead directed the High Court to expedite the hearing of Yadav's pending appeal against his conviction.
A bench comprising Justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale heard the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) plea seeking cancellation of Yadav's bail. However, the court refused to stay the High Court's order and did not grant the relief sought by the investigating agency. Observing that nearly seven years had elapsed since the bail was granted and that the CBI's challenge had remained pending since 2018, the bench said it was not inclined to interfere with the existing order. Instead, it instructed the Jharkhand High Court to take up and dispose of Yadav's appeal at the earliest.
During the proceedings, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the CBI, argued that Lalu Yadav's bail had earlier been rejected on two occasions before the High Court eventually granted him relief. He contended that the High Court had relied on an incorrect factual premise by concluding that Yadav had completed 50 per cent of his sentence. According to the CBI, the court had failed to take into account that the sentences awarded in different cases were not to run concurrently, making the calculation of the sentence served inaccurate.
Representing Lalu Yadav, senior advocate Kapil Sibal countered the CBI's arguments by submitting that the provisions of Section 427 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which deal with concurrent and consecutive sentences, would become relevant only at the stage of final adjudication. He argued that these provisions were not applicable while considering an application for interim suspension of sentence and grant of bail.
The Supreme Court indicated during the hearing that it preferred to focus on the expeditious disposal of the pending appeals rather than revisit the bail order. The bench observed that accelerating the final hearing of the appeal would be a more appropriate course of action than interfering with an order that had remained in force for several years.
The latest order is consistent with the Supreme Court's observations made during an earlier hearing in February, when it had similarly indicated that it was disinclined to cancel Lalu Yadav's bail and would instead prioritise the final adjudication of the pending appeals.
The Deoghar fodder scam is one of several cases linked to the multi-crore fodder scam involving the fraudulent withdrawal of government funds from the undivided Bihar's animal husbandry department. Lalu Yadav has been convicted in multiple fodder scam cases over the years and has been pursuing appeals against the trial court judgments. Tuesday's ruling ensures that his bail remains intact while the Jharkhand High Court moves towards a faster hearing of his appeal.
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