Patna, July 15: Lalu Prasad Yadav, the leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), expressed his joy on Wednesday after receiving relief from the Supreme Court. As he stepped out of his residence in Kautilya Nagar, supporters welcomed him and took selfies with him. During a conversation with journalists, he stated, “Yes, I am happy.”
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court denied a plea to cancel Yadav’s bail and suspend his sentence in the fodder scam case. The court upheld the Jharkhand High Court‘s relief concerning the illegal withdrawal from the Deoghar treasury in Jharkhand. The High Court had granted Yadav bail and suspended his sentence until a final decision was made.
The Supreme Court also directed the Jharkhand High Court to resolve his pending criminal appeal within six months. Justices M.M. Sundresh and P.B. Varale noted that nearly seven years had passed since the High Court’s order, indicating no need for intervention at this stage. The court emphasized that the appeal, pending since 2018, should be heard promptly. The CBI had challenged the High Court’s order from July 12, 2019.
The CBI argued that Yadav was granted the benefit of sentence suspension based on an incorrect calculation of his time served. Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju contended that sentences in various fodder scam cases should run consecutively unless the court orders otherwise.
In contrast, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Yadav, opposed this view, asserting that the decision on whether sentences should run concurrently or consecutively should be made during the final hearing of the appeal. He highlighted that the High Court had exercised its discretion to grant Yadav the same relief given to other convicts who had served half of their sentences. After hearing arguments from both sides, the Supreme Court refused to annul the suspension of Yadav’s sentence.
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