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Anand Mohan Sahay in Patna
The Patna high court on Tuesday extended the interim bail of former Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav for another six months in the multi-million-rupee fodder scam.
The court rejected the counsel's plea to grant Yadav permanent bail saying there was no basis for it.
According to sources in the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal, of which Yadav is the chief, he got the extension in a case involving fraudulent withdrawals of nearly Rs 5 million from the Bhagalpur treasury by Bihar animal husbandry department officials when he was the chief minister for the period of 1990-97.
Yadav is one of the main accused in the fodder scam, which came to light in the mid-1990s, forcing him to step down from the post of chief minister.
It was the turning point in his political career spanning two and a half decades. He promptly pulled in his wife Rabri Devi into politics, who took over as chief minister in 1997.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has already filed a case against Yadav and Rabri Devi for possessing assets disproportionate to their income.
In 1999, a CBI special court issued a non-bailable warrant against the couple.
Devi was later granted bail, while Yadav was remanded to judicial custody. He received interim bail early this year which was extended.
Yadav has denied the charges levied by the CBI, alleging the case against him was lodged under pressure from the Centre.
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