New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Tuesday filed a plea in the Supreme Court, opposing bail to RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, convicted in the fodder scam, on the grounds that he has been contradictory in his application for bail.
In its plea, the CBI has submitted that Yadav, serving a jail term, has spent more time in a hospital ward in Ranchi than behind bars after he was convicted. The premier investigating agency further submitted that in the eight months he spent in the hospital ward, Yadav has been indulging in political activities, having met 110 people in the hospital.
In contrast, it said, only nine people met Yadav when he was lodged in a Ranchi jail.
The agency further said that Yadav who claimed to be so unwell that he cannot even remain in jail has now suddenly become physically fit and is seeking bail. “Suddenly when the Parliamentary elections become near, the petitioner clearly took a somersault and sought bail on the ground that he wants to lead his political party in Parliamentary elections,” the CBI’s plea reads.
“It is submitted that simultaneous raising of pleas for bails on medical grounds and bail to guide the party and to carry out all essential responsibilities as a party president in ensuing Lok Sabha elections are mutually contradictory and manifest that in the garb of bail on medical ground the petitioner, in essence, wants to pursue his political activities which is impermissible in law,” it adds.
The CBI sought the dismissal of the Yadav’s plea submitting that in the garb of getting bail on medical grounds, the RJD chief simply wanted to pursue his political activities in the wake of the Lok Sabha Elections. Yadav who is lodged in a Ranchi jail has challenged the 10 January Jharkhand High Court order that denied him bail.
The first phase of the elections kicks off on 11 April.
Also read: How Lalu Prasad is plotting to defeat Modi in Bihar from a jail in Jharkhand
Medical grounds a farce
In its detailed reply, the CBI pointed out that during the time that Yadav has spent in the hospital, he has “not only been granted a special paying ward with all facilities, but he is virtually conducting his political activities from there”.
The agency said that from the visitor’s register in the hospital, it was clear that several politicians had made a beeline to meet Yadav. They include his sons, Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Kumar Yadav, former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, former Jharkhand ministers Bandhu Tirkey and Annapurna Devi, former Jharkhand speaker Alamgir Alam, and leaders such as Ahmed Patel, Derek O’Brien, D. Raja, Kirti Azad, Shivanand Tiwary, Ramai Ram among others.
The CBI has also claimed that Santosh Kumar Suman, son of former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi was a frequent visitor at the hospital. The agency has claimed that Yadav would meet at least three people every day.
Wrong precedent if bail granted
The CBI has also submitted that any relief in Yadav’s favour would not only be against the “apex court’s zero tolerance to corruption” but would also “set a very wrong precedent in all corruption cases”.
“The petitioner seems to have created an impression that he is convicted for only 3.5 years and has already undergone substantial portion. This submission is not only misleading but factually incorrect,” the CBI plea states.
The CBI submitted that Yadav has barely spent any time behind bars pre and post-conviction, and has asked the court to consider the “gravity of the offence of corruption in public as well as the constitutional office which the petitioner abused and misappropriated huge amount of public money…”
With PTI inputs.