Koda gets bail, set to leave prison

The Jharkhand High Court Tuesday granted bail to former chief minister Madhu Koda in a graft case related to a rural electrification contract, paving the way for him to step out of jail after three years and eight months.

The court while granting bail to Koda in the rural electrification scam, linked to alleged wrongdoings in the award of contracts, asked him to submit his passport and give two sureties of Rs.1 lakh each, the former chief minister's lawyer Biswajeet Mukherjee told reporters.

Koda is in jail since November 2009 in various cases of corruption. He was earlier given bail in four other cases, including the Rs.2,500 crore money laundering scam.

He was the chief minister from September 2006 to August 2008 and all the five corruption cases are related to that period.

"Koda has been granted bail in all the five cases. In rural electrification scam, he was granted bail as the CBI was yet to file the charge sheet," he said.

Koda is also at the centre of the Rs.2,500 crore money laundering scam. In 2009, the Income Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at 69 places, including houses of Koda, to unearch various scams and corruption cases.