Fodder scam: Jharkhand HC defers hearing of Lalu's bail plea till Oct 9

Jharkhand High Court deferred till October 9 the hearing of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav's bail petition in connection with a case related to the Rs 950-crore fodder scam

The Jharkhand High Court on

Friday deferred till October 9 the hearing of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav's bail petition in connection with a case related to the Rs 950-crore fodder scam as he has not yet completed half of his jail term.

Yadav's bail plea pertains to a case related to the fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 33.67 crore from the Chaibasa treasury in 1992-93 during his tenure as the chief minister of undivided Bihar.

The CBI counsel argued before a bench headed by Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh that Yadav's bail plea should not be heard now as 23 days are remaining for him to complete half of his five-year jail term awarded by a special court of the investigating agency in connection with the case.

Yadav's bail petition was filed on July 3 and the hearing was fixed on August 28.

The court, however, had earlier deferred it till September 11 as the CBI advocate had taken ill.

Yadav, however, will not be freed even if he is granted bail in this case as he has been sentenced to 14 years in jail in the Dumka treasury embezzlement case.

The court had earlier rejected his bail petition in connection with the Dumka case.

The RJD supremo has been convicted in three fodder scam cases so far.

Yadav is undergoing treatment at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) here. He is suffering from diabetes, heart and kidney ailments among other diseases.