Supreme Court refused to cancel Lalu Prasad Yadav’s bail.
Jharkhand High Court was asked to expedite his pending appeals.
The court sought a decision preferably within six months
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to cancel the bail granted to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam cases, observing that it would not be appropriate to interfere with his liberty after nearly six years.
The court directed that the pending criminal appeals against his convictions be heard on priority and requested the Jharkhand High Court to dispose of them, preferably within six months.
A bench comprising Justices MM Sundresh and Prasanna B Varale dismissed the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) plea challenging the Jharkhand High Court's orders that suspended Yadav's sentence and granted him bail.
"We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned order since several years have passed since the impugned order," the bench said. Referring to the appeals pending since 2018, it added, "It will only be appropriate to request the high court to expedite the appeal and decide it preferably within six months."
Appearing for the CBI, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju argued that the Jharkhand High Court had incorrectly assessed the period of imprisonment undergone by Yadav while granting him bail.
"The calculation by the judge is wrong. He had to undergo sentences consecutively, and therefore the trial court is wrong when it says he has undergone half the sentence," Raju submitted.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Yadav, opposed the CBI's contention. He argued that Section 427 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which deals with whether sentences run concurrently or consecutively, becomes relevant only at the stage of final adjudication and not while considering interim suspension of sentence.
During the proceedings, the bench indicated that expediting the appeals would be a more appropriate course than reconsidering the bail order.
"We will have to expedite the trial. What do you have to say if we expedite the appeal? We may not interfere with the order impugned," the bench observed.
Sibal said he had no objection to such an approach, telling the court, "I cannot come in the way of the court if it wishes to pass such an order."
The court's decision is consistent with its observations during an earlier hearing in February, when it had indicated that it was not inclined to revoke Yadav's bail and was instead considering an early hearing of the pending appeals.
The CBI has challenged multiple Jharkhand High Court orders, including one passed in October 2020 that suspended Yadav's sentence in the Chaibasa treasury case involving the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of ₹37.62 crore during 1992-93.
According to the agency, the High Court incorrectly relied on the "half-sentence" principle while granting bail. The CBI has maintained that the trial court had directed the sentences awarded in different fodder scam cases to run consecutively rather than concurrently. On that basis, it argued that Yadav's cumulative prison term would be about 14 years and that he had not completed half of it when bail was granted.
Yadav has disputed the CBI's interpretation, contending that the agency has misread the law. He has argued that courts have consistently treated the custody undergone for offences under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act as operating concurrently for the limited purpose of considering suspension of sentence. He has also cited his age and medical condition, including the kidney transplant he underwent in 2022, while opposing the plea seeking cancellation of his bail.
The 77-year-old RJD leader has been convicted in five fodder scam cases linked to fraudulent withdrawals from the Chaibasa, Deoghar, Dumka and Doranda treasuries during his tenure as Bihar chief minister.
The fodder scam comprises 55 cases involving alleged fraudulent withdrawals of nearly ₹950 crore from the undivided Bihar treasury between 1992 and 1995 through fake bills for fodder, medicines and equipment.
