Lalu Prasad to wait for another day for release on provisional bail

The Jharkhand High Court last week granted six-week provisional bail to Prasad on medical grounds in the fodder scam cases he has been convicted in.

Authorities at the Birsa Mundal jail in Ranchi had separately given him a three-day parole on May 10 to attend his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav's wedding on May 12 in Patna. Travel time was not included in the parole duration and Prasad returned to the prison yesterday, a day after his parole ended.

The HC order has not reached the trial court, which would issue the release order after completing formalities, Prasad's lawyer Prabhat Kumar said.

The special CBI court is a morning court which ends at 12.30pm, while the HC is a day court, he said.

"We hope the HC order reaches the special CBI court later during the day so that we can fulfil the formalities for getting Prasad's release order," the lawyer said.

RJD general-secretary and Prasad's close aide Bhola Yadav, camping in Ranchi and waiting for the release order, said Prasad will have to wait for another day.

Prasad's lawyer said they needed to fill the bail bond and deposit two sureties of Rs 50,000 to get the release order from the trial court on the basis of the high court judgment.

He said the bail in the three fodder scam cases would be effective from the day he is released from jail.

Prasad, 69, suffers from diabetes, blood pressure, kidney problems and other ailments.

Bhola Yadav said after getting the release order Prasad would return to Patna. From there he would go to Delhi, Mumbai and other places for specialised treatment.

The RJD supremo has been in jail since December 23 after being convicted in the Deoghar treasury case and sentenced to jail for three-and-a-half years. He was later convicted in the Chaibasa treasury case and sent to prison for five years and the Dumka treasury case and sentenced for 14 years.

The over Rs 900-crore fodder scam cases are related to the illegal withdrawal of money from government treasury by the animal husbandry department in undivided Bihar in the 1990s when Prasad was the Chief Minister.