Ranchi, July 14: The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the Jharkhand High Court’s 2019 order suspending the sentence of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in the Deoghar treasury fodder scam case, refusing to interfere with the relief granted to the former Bihar chief minister. The apex court, however, requested the Jharkhand High Court to dispose of his pending criminal appeal within six months.
A bench comprising Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice P.B. Varale dismissed the State of Jharkhand’s challenge to the High Court’s July 12, 2019 order, observing that nearly seven years had passed since the sentence was suspended and the criminal appeal had remained pending since 2018.
“Upon hearing the learned counsels, we are not inclined to interfere with the order particularly since seven years have elapsed since then. The appeals are of the year 2018 and therefore it will only be appropriate to request the High Court to expedite the hearing,” the bench observed.
The court further remarked that “it would be preferable to decide the appeals within six months,” emphasizing the need for an expeditious conclusion of the long-pending matter.
The State of Jharkhand had approached the Supreme Court through a Special Leave Petition (SLP), contending that the High Court had erroneously suspended Lalu Prasad Yadav’s sentence on the assumption that he had completed 50 per cent of his jail term.
Appearing for the state, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju argued that sentences awarded in multiple fodder scam convictions should run consecutively under Section 427 of the Code of Criminal Procedure unless specifically directed otherwise by the court.
“The very yardstick applied is wrong,” Raju submitted, asserting that the High Court had incorrectly calculated the period of imprisonment undergone by the RJD leader.
Opposing the plea, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Lalu Prasad Yadav, argued that the issue of whether sentences should run concurrently or consecutively could only be determined at the final hearing of the appeal. He maintained that the High Court had consistently granted suspension of sentence to similarly placed convicts who had completed half of their sentence and had exercised its discretion on that basis.
The Supreme Court, however, chose not to examine the merits of the sentence calculation and instead focused on ensuring an early hearing of the pending appeal.
Lalu Prasad Yadav was convicted by a CBI court in the Deoghar treasury fodder scam case and sentenced to three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The Jharkhand High Court had granted him suspension of sentence in 2019 after finding that he had completed more than half of his sentence and noting that similarly placed co-convicts had received identical relief. The High Court had also ruled that the Supreme Court’s earlier dismissal of an SLP against the rejection of bail was a non-speaking order and, therefore, did not prevent it from considering a fresh application based on changed circumstances.
With the Supreme Court declining to interfere, Lalu Prasad Yadav’s suspension of sentence will continue while the Jharkhand High Court hears and decides his criminal appeal, which has now been directed to be concluded within six months.
