Lalu bail: CBI says he’s four months short of serving half term, HC seeks proof

The Jharkhand high court on Friday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to furnish documentary proof within a week in support of its claim that incarcerated Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad was four months short of serving half of the sentence awarded to him in a corruption case. Prasad will be eligible for bail once he completes half of the term (42 months).

The bench of justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, which is hearing Prasad’s bail plea, posted the matter for hearing next on February 19 after the CBI argued he has so far served 37 months and six days in custody and not 42 months.

Prasad has been in jail since December 2017 after his conviction in three cases. He has secured bail in two other cases after the completion of half of his sentence. Prasad filed a bail application in the third case in the high court last year. He submitted an affidavit last week saying he has completed half of the sentence in the third case while urging the high court to grant him bail. Prasad said he was airlifted to New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences last month after his condition deteriorated.

CBI’s lawyer, Rajiv Sinha said, Prasad has submitted the lower court’s orders to show the time he has spent in jail starting from 1997. “But no document is annexed to show when he was actually taken into remand after production. We are going submit every detail along with lower court’s order sheets to prove that he is still to serve over four months in jail to complete half the sentence.”

Prasad has been convicted in cases involving the fraudulent withdrawal of ₹3.76 crore from a treasury in the 1990s when he was the chief minister.