Ranchi: Former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Thursday surrendered before two special CBI courts here following the expiry of the provisional bail granted to him to receive treatment of various ailments. He was later taken to the Birsa Munda Jail and then to a hospital for check-up.
The Jharkhand High Court had August 24 directed Lalu to surrender before the CBI courts by August 30. He was out on provisional bail since May 11. Lalu arrived in Ranchi from Patna Wednesday; he surrendered before Justice SS Prasad, who sent him to prison in connection with the case pertaining to the fraudulent withdrawals from Chaibasa Treasury. Lalu’s advocate Prabhat Kumar said his client was suffering from various ailments.
Justice Prasad said Lalu could later be shifted to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) for treatment under Dr Umesh Prasad’s care. The judge directed doctors of the Birsa Munda Jail, where he had been lodged following his conviction last December, to consult doctors who were treating Lalu.
As the provisional bail applied to three fodder scam cases, Lalu also surrendered before the court of judge MP Mishra in connection with the Deoghar and Dumka treasury cases.
The Jharkhand High Court had August 24 quashed the prayer of Lalu’s counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi for a three-month extension of his provisional bail for treatment and medical care for anal abscess, kidney stone and enlarged prostate glands.
Before surrendering, Lalu told reporters: “I have faith in the judiciary.”
State leaders, including former Union Minister and Congress leader Subodh Kant Sahay and former Jharkhand Chief Ministers — Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Hemant Soren and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) chief Babulal Marandi — met him at a guest house where he had been staying.
Lalu has been convicted in four fodder scam cases, the first being on September 30, 2013 wherein he was sentenced to five years in prison. He was lodged in Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Central Jail after being convicted in December 2017 in one of the fodder scam cases. He was convicted in two more cases in January and March this year and awarded 14 years in prison.
The multi-million-rupee fodder scam had surfaced in the 1990s when Lalu was chief minister of Bihar. At the directive of the Patna High Court, the probe was handed over to the CBI.
After his surrender before Justice Prasad’s court, Lalu was taken to Birsa Munda Jail in accordance with procedure and then taken to RIMS for a check-up.