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New Delhi: The Supreme Court today refused to cancel the bail granted to former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in a fodder scam case, observing that it would not be appropriate to interfere with his liberty after six years.

Two member benches of Justice M M Sundresh and Justice PB Varale observed that eight years have passed since bail was granted to Lalu Yadav. The bench said it was not inclined to interfere with the order passed by the High Court but asked it to expedite the hearing on the main appeals filed by Yadav and the CBI against the trial court judgment.

The bench made it clear “we are not inclined to interfere in the impugned order (granting bail). The appeal is for the year 2018. The bench ordered an expeditious hearing of Lalu’s appeal by the high court against conviction.

Additional advocate general SV Raju, on behalf of CBI, submitted that on two occasions the plea for suspension of sentence was rejected on merits. Raju said the High Court granted bail on the ground that Yadav had completed 50 per cent of his sentence, which is factually incorrect.

Kapil Sibal, who appeared on behalf of Lalu Yadav, rebutted Raju’s submission, arguing that the entire argument that Lalu Yadav should have undergone the first sentence before the second is completely wrong. Sibal said the judge applied a uniform yardstick, and it is the judge’s discretion.

The bench observed that it was more inclined to fast-track the appeals than revisit the bail order, adding, ‘We will have to expedite the trial. What do you have to say if we expedite the appeal?”