CBI plea against Lalu's sentence suspension to be heard in April

New Delhi: Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will hear in April a clutch of appeals, including CBI's, against an order of the Jharkhand High Court suspending the sentence of former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad and other convicts for their alleged involvement in the fodder scam.

A bench comprising justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh kept the matter for final disposal on April 22.

The CBI counsel contended that the case involves a question of law and that the high court had violated settled principles governing post-conviction suspension of sentence. The counsel added the sentence of the accused could not have been suspended and that Lalu and the co-accused were illegally out.


Justice Sundresh observed that the persons concerned were in their 60s, 70s and late 80s. "We can fix a date for the appeal to be disposed of. We also know what the question of law is... The persons are in their 60s, 70s and late 80s now. Their sentence is suspended," the SC judge added.

The bench also said that the cases where a respondent/accused had died would be closed. The fodder scandal consists of several cases relating to withdrawals amounting to around ₹950 crore from the state treasury between 1992 and 1995, when Lalu Prasad served as the chief minister of undivided Bihar and was also in charge of the departments of animal husbandry and finance.