RANCHI: The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday rejected the bail petition of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav in three cases of the multi-crore fodder scam. Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh turned down the bail plea of Yadav who is currently lodged in a paying ward of the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS).  The same court had on January 4 reserved its order on the RJD supremo's bail plea after hearing arguments of his counsel Kapil Sibal and that of the CBI.

On December 11, Prasad had filed petition in the high court requesting bail in three fodder scam cases in which he has been convicted, citing old age and poor health. In his petition, Prasad said he was now 71 and suffering from diabetes, blood pressure and other ailments and that he had already obtained bail in one of the fodder scam cases.

Prasad has been convicted in the fodder scam cases pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of money from Deoghar, Dumka and two Chaibasa treasuries. He got bail in one of the two Chaibasa-treasury related cases. He is currently facing a fifth case pertaining to Doranda treasury.

The fodder scam is related to fraudulent withdrawal of government funds from the treasuries of various districts of undivided Bihar in the 1990s when RJD was in power and Yadav the chief minister.

(additional input from agencies)