SC disinclined to cancel Lalu’s bail in fodder case

THe sublime margaret court on tues indicated that it is non inclined to offset the bail granted to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam cases, telling the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that it would instead fix a date for final disposal of the pending appeals challenging the suspension of the former Union minister’s sentence.A bench of justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh was hearing CBI’s appeals against orders of the Jharkhand High Court suspending Yadav’s sentence and granting him bail after conviction.Opening the case, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for CBI, said that the matter involved a “question of law” relating to the interpretation of the sentence awarded by the trial court. “It has to be applied. It’s in violation of that, that the sentence has been suspended. It can’t be done. It is an illegal order,” submitted Raju, contending that the high court had wrongly applied the “half-sentence” principle while granting bail.Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Yadav, responded that several co-accused had either not been served or had not filed replies, and urged the court not to rush the matter. “There is no need for such excitement,” he said.The bench, however, made it clear that it was aware of the contours of the dispute. “Both of us know what this SLP (special leave petition) is. We think both of you know what the result is. You do your job, we do our job,” the court observed.It added that the appeals themselves had been pending for long. “The files are just languishing. We will give a date in April,” said the bench, noting that many of the accused are now in their 60s, 70s and 80s. The court also said that cases where the accused have died would be closed.When Raju insisted that the accused were “illegally out” and that the matter concerned post-conviction suspension of sentence, the bench reiterated that it would fix the batch for final hearing rather than cancel bail at this stage.CBI has challenged orders of the Jharkhand High Court, including one passed in October 2020, suspending Yadav’s sentence in a case relating to fraudulent withdrawal of ₹37.62 crore from the Chaibasa treasury in 1992-93. That case was the first FIR in the multi-crore fodder scam.The high court noted that Yadav spent around 30 months in custody in connection with various fodder scam cases and that disposal of his criminal appeal would take time. On that basis, it suspended his five-year jail term.The central issue before the Supreme Court is whether Yadav was entitled to bail on the ground that he had completed half of his sentence.According to CBI, the high court proceeded on an “erroneous assumption” that the sentences awarded in different fodder scam cases would run concurrently -- that is, simultaneously. The agency contends that the trial court had directed the sentences to run consecutively, one after the other. If so, the total sentence would come to about 14 years, and Yadav would have had to undergo half of that cumulative period before seeking suspension of sentence.At the time bail was granted, Yadav had undergone only about one year of imprisonment in the relevant case, CBI argued, adding that separate sentences under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act cannot be clubbed together for calculating the “half-sentence” benchmark.Yadav, now 77, has been convicted in five fodder scam cases relating to fraudulent withdrawals from treasuries at Deoghar, Dumka, Chaibasa and Doranda during his tenure as Bihar chief minister. CBI has named him as an accused in six cases.In an affidavit filed in August 2023 opposing CBI’s appeal, Yadav asserted that he has a “prima facie good case on merit” to establish his innocence and that it was at his instance that as many as 41 FIRs were registered in connection with the scam.The fodder scam comprises 55 cases involving alleged fraudulent withdrawals of around ₹950 crore from the state treasury, largely between 1992 and 1995. Officials of the animal husbandry department are accused of siphoning off funds through fake bills for fodder, medicines and equipment. At the time, Yadav held the finance portfolio and oversaw the animal husbandry department.While CBI has accused him of shielding key officials, including then joint regional director Dr SB Sinha and director Ram Raj Ram, Yadav has contended that he neither protected the accused nor interfered in departmental functioning. He has argued that the trial court relied on “wholly unreliable” approver statements and alleged proximity to the “kingpins” of the scam.On the question of bail, Yadav maintained that CBI’s interpretation of the half-sentence rule is “misconceived”. He argued that courts have consistently treated custody undergone for IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act offences as operating concurrently for the purpose of suspension of sentence, even where the trial court directed sentences to run consecutively. He has further claimed THAT in cases of other accused, CBI itself had accepted concurrent running of sentences for calculating custody.Yadav has also cited his deteriorating health, including a kidney transplant in December 2022 in Singapore, and various age-related ailments requiring frequent medical intervention. “No useful purpose would be served” by sending him back to custody, he submitted.