New Delhi, July 14 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to interfere with the Jharkhand High Court’s order suspending the sentence of RJD chief and former Bihar Chief Minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav, in the Deoghar fodder scam case.

Dismissing the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) plea seeking cancellation of his bail, a Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and P.B. Varale observed that seven years had elapsed since the High Court suspended his sentence and declined to interfere with the order.

At the same time, the apex court requested the Jharkhand High Court to expedite the hearing of the pending criminal appeals, preferably within six months.

“We are not inclined to interfere in the impugned order. The appeal is of the year 2018. It will only be appropriate to request the High Court to expedite the hearing of the appeal, preferably within six months,” the Justice Sundresh-led Bench said.

Appearing for the CBI, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju argued that the Jharkhand High Court had suspended Yadav’s sentence on an erroneous premise that he had completed 50 per cent of his sentence.

ASG Raju submitted that Yadav’s earlier applications seeking suspension of sentence had been rejected on merits and contended that the High Court wrongly treated the sentences as concurrent while granting relief.

On the other hand, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Yadav, opposed the CBI’s plea, saying the Jharkhand High Court had exercised its judicial discretion on a uniform standard.

During the hearing, the Justice Sundresh-led Bench enquired about the status of the criminal appeals pending before the Jharkhand High Court.

While the CBI attributed the delay to the accused, the apex court took note of the fact that the appeals had remained pending since 2018 and said that, in the circumstances, it was not inclined to interfere with the suspension of sentence.

The apex court also directed the High Court to expedite the hearing of Yadav’s appeal against his conviction, along with the CBI’s appeal seeking enhancement of his sentence on the ground that the offences involved serious economic crimes committed by a public servant holding high office.

The fodder scam cases relate to fraudulent withdrawals of nearly Rs 950 crore from the undivided Bihar treasury between 1992 and 1995, when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the Chief Minister and held charge of the Animal Husbandry Department. He was convicted in cases relating to withdrawals from the Deoghar, Dumka and Chaibasa treasuries, now in Jharkhand.

–IANS

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