The court directed him neither to leave the country without permission nor change his address and mobile number during the bail period.
The Jharkhand high court on Friday deferred till November 27 Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad's bail plea hearing in a fodder scam case related to Dumka treasury, after the Central Bureau of Investigation sought more time to file a written reply in the matter.
The case involves fraudulent withdrawals amounting to Rs 33.67 crore from the Chaibasa treasury in undivided Bihar, when Lalu Prasad was the chief minister.
Central Bureau of Investigation special court judge Sanjay Prasad framed the charges against Yadav for fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 3.13 crore from Dumka treasury between December, 1995 and January, 1996.
The case relates to alleged fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 35.62 crore from the Chaibasa treasury in the 1990s when he was the chief minister of undivided Bihar.
The court had on March 19 held the 69-year-old Rashtriya Janata Dal chief guilty along with 18 others in connection with the case - RC 38 A/96.
In a surprise move, Central Bureau of Investigation director Ranjit Sinha has advocated the dropping of charges against Lalu Prasad Yadav in the three pending cases which are offshoots of the infamous fodder scam in which the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader has been convicted in one of the cases.
The judge said that Lalu Prasad could also undergo treatment at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Science in Ranchi.
A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi said it is not issuing notice but tagging the matter with the pending similar appeal also filed by the CBI.
The votes for the state assembly polls will be counted on November 10. Prasad is in judicial custody in Jharkhand capital Ranchi after his conviction in fodder scam cases. He was recently granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court in the case related to Chaibasa treasury but could not come out of jail as his bail plea in another case of fraudulent withdrawals from Dumka treasury is being heard.
The court in its judgment said the RJD chief was guilty of fraudulently withdrawing Rs 3.13 crore from the Dumka Treasury between December 1995 and January 1996, when he was the chief minister of undivided Bihar.
The court to announce punishment against Lalu tomorrow at 2 pm via video conferencing.
Former chief minister Jagannath Mishra was also found guilty in the case pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.62 crore from the Chaibasa treasury in the 1990s.
"Lalu Prasad has been sentenced to 5 years imprisonment while a penalty of Rs 60 lakh has also been imposed on him. Apart from Prasad, five years imprisonment each was announced by the Court for five convicts, four years each for 32 convicts and three years each for three convicts," CBI counsel B M P Singh told PTI.
RJD sources said that the party would appeal against the verdict.
The quantum of punishment will be announced on January 3, 2018.
Lalan Kumar Paswan, who lodged the FIR with the vigilance department, held that the RJD chief's alleged act was tantamount to 'corruption' since, as a member of the legislative assembly, he was a 'public servant' whom Yadav had tried to entice away from 'performing the constitutional obligation of taking part in voting in the House'.
Supporters of Yadav created ruckus in the hospital premises protesting the decision.
He had already been granted bail in the Chaibasa Treasury Scam case in October 2020, and in the Deoghar Treasury Scam case in February 2020.
The CBI said the RJD leader is likely to get involved in political activities and misuse the grant of bail ahead of upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The bench rejected Yadav's arguments that he has been in jail for 24 months, saying in comparison to the 14-year sentence awarded to him, 24 months was nothing.
The Election Commission has reduced maximum number of campaigners for the recognised parties to 30 while for the unrecognised parties it would be not more than 20 in view of coronavirus pandemic, Additional Chief Electoral Officer (ACEO) Sanjay Kumar Singh said on Friday. The maximum number was earlier fixed at 40 for everybody.
Prasad will face charges including criminal conspiracy and fraud in the fresh trial.
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