HC adjourns hearing on Lalu’s bail plea to Feb 12

Meanwhile, the bench has asked the CBI, the opposite party in the case, to file its reply, if any

RANCHI: The Jharkhand high court (HC) on Friday adjourned hearing on the bail plea furnished by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad for February 12, even as the leader filed a supplementary affidavit to highlight the period of custody served by him and recent developments on the health front as grounds for the same.

The former Bihar chief minister has been languishing in jail since December 23, 2017, after his conviction in three fodder scam cases in quick succession.

Prasad has already secured bail in two cases on the ground of completion of half sentence. He moved bail application in the third and last case on a similar ground in HC last year.

Filing a supplementary affidavit with the court, Prasad said he would be completing half of the sentence (42 months) on February 7. Urging the court to grant him bail, he also stated that he was airlifted and shifted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, last week after his health deteriorated.

The bench of justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, however, adjourned the matter for next hearing on February 12, asking the opposite party, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), to file its reply, if any, in the meanwhile.

“We have received Prasad’s supplementary affidavit but nothing new has been disclosed in it to counter our earlier stand that the leader has to serve about eight months more to complete half sentence in this case,” said assistant solicitor general and CBI’s counsel Rajiv Sinha.

He added, “According to our calculation, Prasad has only completed 34 months and some days in custody, which is still short of about eight months to complete 3.5 years. His other ground of deteriorating health condition has nothing to do with bail. An ailing person requires treatment and that is being given to him.”

However, Prasad’s lawyer Prabhat Kumar said, “On the last date of hearing in December, 2020, we had sought six weeks time to furnish a detailed computation of the period served by Prasad in custody.”

He added, “We have now filed a supplementary affidavit with a revised chart supported by a lower court’s certified order sheets to show the details of custody period served by Prasad in this case.” According to the revised computation, Prasad would be completing the half sentence on February 7, he said.

Lalu’s other ground of deteriorating health has nothing to do with bail. An ailing person requires treatment and that is being given to him.

JHARKHAND HIGH COURT, bench of justice Aparesh Kumar Singh