Pioneer News Service
Ranchi
The Jharkhand High Court will now expedite the hearing of over 54 appeals related to the fodder scam case, involving Lalu Prasad Yadav and others. During the hearing of a case related to pendency of cases, the court
of Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi initiated the process for the speedy disposal of the appeals, citing the Supreme Court’s order dated July 14, 2026.
The Supreme Court, in a related SLP, has asked the Jharkhand High Court to fast-track these hearings and dispose of the cases, as far as possible, within six months from the date of the order. During the High Court hearing, counsel representing the appellants and the CBI stated that preparing paper books is essential for arguments in these cases.
The court observed that the trial court record is extensive and detailed. Therefore, providing hard copies of the entire record to all parties is not feasible.
The court directed counsel for both the appellants and the CBI to inspect the trial court record and identify the specific documents required for the hearing and arguments. Following this, orders will be passed regarding providing scanned copies of the necessary documents to the advocates. The court granted liberty to both sides to mention the matter again for hearing within eight weeks after completing the record inspection.
The court also directed the appellants’ advocates to seek instructions and clarify whether any appeal has already abated due to the death of an appellant. ASGI Prashant Pallav and Special Public Prosecutor Deepak Kumar Bharti appeared on behalf of the CBI.
The appellants include Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sanjay Sinha, Dr. Krishna Mohan Prasad, Mahinder Singh Bedi, Sunil Gandhi, Dr. Gauri Shankar Prasad, Dr. Brij Narayan Sharma, Ajay Kumar Sinha, Vijay Kumar Mallick, Satyendra Kumar Mehra, Ravindra Kumar Mehra, Ravi Kumar Sinha, Rajan Mehta, Vidyasagar Nishad, Sushil Kumar, Dr. Gaya Prasad Tripathi, among others.
