Supreme Court upholds bail granted to Lalu Yadav in fodder scam

The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to interfere with the Jharkhand High Court's 2019 order that granted bail and suspended the prison sentence of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in the Deoghar treasury fodder scam case. A bench comprising Justice MM Sundresh and Justice PB Varale observed that nearly seven years have elapsed since the High Court initially granted the suspension of sentence. Noting that the criminal appeals have remained pending since 2018, the apex court requested the High Court to expedite the process and dispose of the pending matter within a strict six-month timeframe.

The State of Jharkhand had legally challenged the High Court's July 12, 2019 order, with Additional Solicitor General SV Raju arguing that Yadav’s relief was calculated incorrectly. The State contended that sentences across multiple fodder scam convictions should run consecutively under Section 427 of the Code of Criminal Procedure unless specifically directed otherwise, meaning Yadav had not actually completed 50 percent of his jail term. Representing Yadav, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal countered that the question of concurrent versus consecutive sentences should be determined during the final appeal hearing, adding that the High Court routinely grants suspension of sentence to convicts who have served half their term.

Lalu Prasad Yadav was originally convicted by a special CBI court in the Deoghar treasury case and handed a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Jharkhand High Court subsequently granted him bail after determining he had served more than half his sentence, keeping in line with relief granted to similarly placed co-convicts. The Supreme Court ultimately agreed that the prolonged pendency of the appeal made interference at this stage unnecessary, choosing instead to focus on a swift resolution of the core legal appeal at the High Court level.