There will be difficulty in sending Lalu Yadav back to jail, Supreme Court comments on CBI’s appeal against bail
Postponing the hearing till the last week of January on the appeal of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the bail granted to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) President and former Bihar CM Lalu Yadav in the fodder scam case, the Supreme Court has remarked that Lalu Yadav It will be difficult to put Yadav in jail again. During the hearing of this case on Tuesday, the court told the CBI lawyer that even if he accepts your request, it will be difficult to put him back in jail. This comment was made by the court in the bench of Justice AS Bopanna and Justice MM Sundaresh during the hearing on CBI’s appeal against the bail granted to former Railway Minister Lalu Yadav from the Jharkhand High Court. bench | Rashi told CBI- “Even if we give orders in your favor, it will be difficult to put them back inside.”
Administrative Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, appearing for the CBI, told the court that in this case a small legal question has to be decided regarding the interpretation of the trial court’s sentence. CBI says that the High Court has granted bail to Lalu Yadav on the basis of erroneous assumption that the punishment in different cases of fodder scam has to run together and not after the end of one sentence, the other sentence has to start. CBI has told the Supreme Court that the High Court has made a mistake in deciding this. That Lalu has served half the sentence. According to CBI, the punishment given to Lalu was to be run one after the other, not simultaneously and accordingly Lalu Yadav has to remain in jail for 14 years. CBI says that when Lalu Yadav got bail, he had served only about one year of the sentence.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Lalu Yadav, questioned the CBI’s uneasiness for early hearing and said that the agency has filed the appeal after 14 months and is now showing haste. Sibal said that their only objective is to put Lalu Yadav in jail again so that he is not left out during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Sibal told the court that while granting bail to Lalu Yadav, the High Court had also taken into consideration his age, health and diseases. He said that Lalu has undergone kidney transplant and has served 42 months in jail. Amidst the debate between Lalu and CBI lawyers, the court said that it will hold the next hearing in the last week of January.
CBI had complained to the court during the last hearing in August that Lalu Yadav was seen playing badminton after getting bail on medical grounds. Apart from CBI, Jharkhand government has also filed an appeal against Lalu’s bail. Lalu Yadav has been sentenced in five cases of fodder scam.
