Big relief to Lalu Yadav from Supreme Court in fodder scam case, CBI’s demand rejected, bail will remain intact.

New Delhi: Former Chief Minister of Bihar and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has got a big relief from the Supreme Court in the Deoghar fodder scam case. The Supreme Court, while refusing to cancel his bail, did not interfere with the order of the Jharkhand High Court under which he was granted bail. Also, the court has laid emphasis on early disposal of this long pending case and has directed the High Court to expedite the hearing of the appeal.

During the hearing held on Tuesday, the bench of Justice MM Sundaresh and Justice PB Varale did not give any relief on the petition of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in which the bail of Lalu Yadav was demanded to be cancelled. The Supreme Court made it clear that it does not want to interfere in the bail order of the Jharkhand High Court. The court also acknowledged that the matter has become very old and in such a situation, it would be more appropriate to give priority to the hearing of the appeal.

Cited seven year old case

During the hearing, the Supreme Court said that this appeal of CBI has been pending since the year 2018 and in the meantime almost seven years have passed. In such circumstances, it is more important to dispose of the original appeal quickly rather than canceling the bail. The court indicated that in case the case is pending for a long time, it would be in the interest of justice to reach a final decision instead of merely debating on bail.

What stand did CBI present?

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, appearing for CBI, argued in the court that Lalu Yadav’s bail plea had been rejected twice earlier. Later the High Court granted him bail on the basis that he had completed 50 percent of his sentence. CBI said that this premise was not factually correct, because the sentences given in different cases do not run together. The agency argued that bail was granted without adequate consideration of this aspect.

Kapil Sibal presented his side on behalf of Lalu Yadav.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Lalu Yadav, said in the Supreme Court that Section 427 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) deals with running of sentences simultaneously or separately. His argument was that this provision applies at the time of the final verdict and not when the court is merely considering an interim stay on sentence or bail. He told the court that it would not be appropriate to rely on this provision at the bail stage.

Supreme Court insisted on completing the hearing soon

After hearing the arguments of both the parties, the Supreme Court bench clearly indicated that instead of making changes in the bail order, it wants to hear the appeal of the case soon. The court said that if the hearing of the appeal is completed expeditiously, a permanent solution to the dispute can be found. For this reason, the court directed the Jharkhand High Court to hear the pending appeal of Lalu Yadav soon and give its verdict.

had given such a hint earlier also

This decision of the Supreme Court is not considered completely unexpected. Earlier, during the hearing held in February, the court had indicated that it was not in favor of canceling the bail of Lalu Yadav. At that time also the bench had said that it is more important to dispose of long pending appeals quickly. Now in the latest order also, the court reiterated the same stand, upheld the bail and directed the High Court to expedite the hearing of the case.