The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal by the Central Bureau of Investigation challenging the bail granted to former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in a fodder scam case. While refusing to overturn the lower court’s decision, the apex court instructed the Jharkhand High Court to fast-track the main appeals concerning Yadav’s conviction and sentencing, requesting a resolution preferably within six months.
A division bench comprising Justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale resolved the matter, which had been pending since 2020, by keeping the underlying legal issues open while disposing of the federal agency’s petition. The apex court noted that the appeal dates back to 2018 and emphasized the appropriateness of expediting the final hearings.
Arguments in the Apex Court
The legal battle in the top court centered on whether the Jharkhand High Court had properly exercised its discretion in releasing Yadav. Representing the Central Bureau of Investigation, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju argued that the High Court had made a factual error by suspending Yadav’s sentence on the grounds that he had served half of his prison term.
Raju contended that because Yadav’s sentences were ordered to run consecutively rather than concurrently, the calculation used to justify his bail was incorrect. The prosecution also characterized Yadav as the central conspirator and primary beneficiary of the multi-million rupee scam, accusing him of abusing his public office to embezzle government funds using fabricated documents. Furthermore, the agency alleged that Yadav had actively delayed the trial proceedings.
Defending the bail order, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Yadav, countered the agency’s assertions. Sibal argued that the prosecution’s claim regarding consecutive sentence completion was incorrect. He maintained that the High Court judge had applied a consistent and fair standard, acting fully within judicial discretion when granting the bail.
Origins of the Conviction
The case involves the fraudulent withdrawal of 89 lakh rupees from the Deoghar Treasury between 1991 and 1994, a period during which Yadav served as the Chief Minister of Bihar.
A special CBI court in Ranchi convicted Yadav in December 2017 under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, handing down a cumulative prison sentence of seven years.
The Jharkhand High Court subsequently suspended Yadav’s sentence and granted him bail in July 2019. The CBI challenged this decision in the Supreme Court, which issued a formal notice in February 2020 before ultimately dismissing the appeal on Tuesday.
