Supreme Court to hear Lalu Prasad’s bail plea on April 10, asks CBI to file reply

The Supreme Court on Friday said it will hear Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad’s bail plea on April 10. The ailing RJD chief has sought bail in three cases related to the multi-crore fodder scam, in which he has been convicted. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to a file reply by April 9 and thereafter the bail plea will be taken up for hearing on Wednesday. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the RJD chief, sought urgent listing of the bail plea saying notice has been issued in the matter.

“You (CBI) file the reply by April 9. We will take up the matter (Yadav’s bail plea) on April 10, the bench said.

Prasad is currently lodged in the Birsa Munda Central Jail in the Jharkhand capital of Ranchi. He has challenged the January 10 verdict of the Jharkhand High Court dismissing his bail plea.

The three cases in which Prasad has been convicted are related to the over-Rs 900-crore fodder scam, which pertains to fraudulent withdrawal of money from the treasuries in the Animal Husbandry department in the early 1990s, when Jharkhand was part of Bihar.

The RJD was in power in Bihar with Prasad as the chief minister when the scam had allegedly taken place.