Supreme Court rejects bail for Lalu Prasad Yadav in fodder scam cases

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a petition from RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, seeking bail in
the four fodder scam cases in which he has been convicted and sentenced to undergo seven years imprisonment.

A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna dismissed the bail petition after hearing senior counsel Kapil Sibal urging the court to consider grant of bail on medical grounds.

Mr Sibal said, “If I (Lalu Prasad) am released on bail, I won’t run away. The Jharkhand High Court is not hearing my appeal. What is the danger if I am released on bail.” The CJI replied, “There is no danger, except that you are convicted.” The Bench also pointed out that Lalu had been in jail for less than 24 months and he can’t be released on bail at this
stage.

The CBI had strongly opposed bail to Lalu Prasad and said the grant of any relief in favour of the petitioner would not only be against the “zero tolerance policy on corruption” but would also be setting a very wrong precedence in all corruption cases. Lalu Prasad sought bail on the ground that he was unwell and had already spent 13 months in prison.

The CBI said that Lalu has served sentence post-conviction only for 4 months approximately and has remained in hospital for a period of 8 1/2 months on the ground that his condition is so bad that he cannot be housed in a jail.