Lalu won’t get bail before poll results as HC defers hearing

RJD president Lalu Prasad will not be released from jail before the formation of the new government in Bihar as the Jharkhand HC on Friday deferred to November 27 the hearing on his plea for suspension of his sentence in a fodder scam case related to fraudulent withdrawal worth Rs 3.13 crore from the Dumka treasury. Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh postponed the matter to November 27 after the CBI sought more time to file a written reply in the matter.
Bihar poll results will be out on November 10. Lalu’s younger son Tejashwi Yadav had said a number of times during the poll campaign that his father would attend his birthday celebrations on November 9 and also “witness the formation of the RJD government on November 10”.
Last month, the HC granted bail to Lalu in a fodder scam case related to the Chaibasa treasury, observing that he has served half of the five-year sentence awarded to him. He had earlier been granted relief in Ranchi and Deoghar cases as well. The Dumka case is the only one in which he has not been granted bail yet. Lalu’s counsel Prabhat Kumar accused the CBI of being “politically motivated” and delaying the hearing in the case deliberately.