Overview

• On July 9, the Jharkhand High Court admitted the CBI’s appeal seeking to extend the 3.5-year prison terms of Lalu Prasad Yadav and co-accused in the Deoghar fodder scam.
• The 2018 special court conviction centered on the defalcation of Rs 89.27 lakh from the Deoghar treasury, with each convict fined Rs 10 lakh.
• CBI counsel Deepak Bharti argued that Lalu Yadav’s oversight as Bihar finance minister justified elevating the sentence to the law’s seven-year maximum.
• The agency cited co-convict Jagdish Sharma’s seven-year term under the IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act as a precedent for harsher punishment.
• Lalu Prasad Yadav remains free on bail pending the appeal after serving more than half of his original 3.5-year sentence.