Apex court gives Lalu bail in fodder scam

RJD chief Lalu Prasad, serving a five-year-jail term in a fodder scam case, got a huge relief on Friday after the Supreme Court granted him bail.

A bench presided over by Chief Justice P Sathasivam applied the principle of parity as other convicts sentenced to similar imprisonment were ordered release on bail.

Interestingly, the CBI, which filed an affidavit opposing Prasad’s petition, did not object to the plea of the RJD leader during the hearing.

Several MPs, including his former aide and now a JD-U leader, Shivanand Tiwari, hailed the court’s decision. Law Minister Kapil Sibal said: “We welcome the decision of the court. Laluji is the leader of a big political party.”

BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, however, said bail was a natural process of law. RJD’s Ramkripal Yadav said the bail would help  party cadres.

In its order, the apex court said the trial court would decide conditions for Prasad’s release, including bail bonds and sureties.
DH News Service

The RJD leader had challenged a Jharkhand High Court order of October 31, rejecting his bail application. He was sentenced to five years in jail on October 3.

Prasad, who lost his Lok Sabha membership after the conviction, submitted that only his bail plea was dismissed among the 44 convicts including former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra.