india

Updated: Jul 12, 2019 22:13 IST

The Jharkhand high court on Friday granted bail to jailed Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad in a case pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs. 90 lakh from Deoghar treasury between 1991 and 1994 over fictitious spends on fodder and other expenses for cattle.

The bail was granted on the grounds that former Bihar chief minister Prasad had served half of the three and a half years of sentence awarded to him in December, 2017. Prasad, however, will not be released from jail as he has also been serving sentence in two other cases of illegal withdrawal of money from Dumka and Chaibasa treasuries.

The Rs. 900-crore “fodder scam” cases are related to irregularities in the animal husbandry department in undivided Bihar in 1990s when the RJD was in power under Prasad. A special CBI court on December 23, 2017, had convicted Prasad and 15 others in the Deoghar case and awarded him three and half years in prison and slapped a fine of Rs.10 lakh on him.

Since then, the RJD chief has been languishing at the Birsa Munda Central Jail here. He is currently undergoing treatment in custody at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi.

“The bench of Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh granted bail to Prasad on the condition that the RJD chief would deposit 50%(Rs. 5 lakh) of the fine amount slapped on him by the court below. The bench also asked him to furnish two sureties of Rs. 50,000 each,” said Rajiv Sinha, assistant solicitor general-cum-CBI’s counsel on Friday.

Prasad, in his bail application, pleaded that he served jail term of 25 months out 42 months awarded to him. Citing provisions of Section 436 A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, he argued the said provision entitled him to get bail on completion of half of the sentence. He also cited poor health condition and advancing age as other grounds to secure bail.