Lalu to move Jharkhand High Court for bail

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, who is lodged in a jail here after his conviction by a CBI court in a fodder scam case, would move the Jharkhand High Court for bail within the next few days, his lawyer said.

Prasad's lawyer Prabhat Kumar told PTI that Prasad's lawyers will move the high court either on Friday or next Monday.

An official of Birsa Munda Central jail said certified copies of the CBI court's judgment sentencing the 16 fodder scam convicts, including Prasad, were handed over to them on Saturday.

Replying to a query on whether the RJD chief would move the court for parole following his sister's death, Kumar said it was not under consideration.

"No, it is not under consideration," the lawyer said.

Prasad was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail by the CBI court on January 6 for fraudulent withdrawal from Deoghar treasury between 1990 and 1994 when he was the Bihar chief minister.

The jail official remained tight-lipped when asked about the veracity of reports that RJD supremo has been given the job of a gardener in the jail with his daily wage being Rs 93.

"We cannot tell that," he said, adding that a job is allotted according to the requirement of the jail and not the wish of an inmate.

Kumar said he was not informed about the kind of job Prasad has been asked to do.

On December 23, the former Bihar chief minister was convicted in the case relating to illegal withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from the Deoghar treasury.

This was the second conviction of the former Union minister in the scam that was reported for the first time 21 years ago.

Earlier, the 69-year-old RJD leader was convicted of fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore from the Chaibasa treasury in September 30, 2013, and was awarded a five-year jail term.

He was granted bail by the Supreme Court after having spent over two-and-a-half months in jail.

Prasad is an accused in three more fodder scam cases in Ranchi relating to the "fraudulent" withdrawal of Rs 3.97 crore from the Dumka treasury, Rs 36 crore from the Chaibasa treasury and Rs 184 crore from the Doranda treasury respectively.