New Delhi: Responding to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) plea in Supreme Court seeking revocation of RJD leader Lalu Yadav’s bail claiming that he has been seen playing badminton, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday said his father only tried his hand at the sport and did not play it “properly”.
“Lalu Prasad Yadav is on lifelong medication. He just tried his hand at a few badminton shots. Doctors do suggest precautions, but that doesn't mean that every person who is unwell has to remain in hospital,” news agency PTI quoted Tejashwi as saying.
The CBI on Friday moved the top court claiming that the RJD leader had "taken up badminton after being granted bail due to medical reasons in a fodder scam case.”
The former Bihar chief minister's lawyer objected to the CBI plea citing his recent kidney transplant. The CBI also sought that his bail in the Doranda treasury case, in connection to which he was sentenced to five years in prison, be annulled.
The central agency was represented by Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, who argued that the Jharkhand High Court's decision to grant the RJD patriarch bail was legally “unsound and erroneous”.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Lalu Yadav, countered the CBI's plea on Friday, citing his recent kidney transplant surgery.
Notably, Lalu Prasad Yadav has been sentenced in five cases in connection with the Rs 950 crore fodder scam that took place between 1992 and 1995 while he was the chief minister of Bihar and was in charge of the finance and animal husbandry portfolios.
According to reports, withdrawals from various treasuries were made based on forged bills and vouchers for fodder, medicines, and artificial insemination.
The hearing on the CBI plea has been rescheduled for October 17 by a bench comprising Justices AS Bopanna and MM Sundresh.