The Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted bail to former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam case related to the Chaibasa treasury, Live Law reported. However, the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief will remain in jail as the Dumka treasury case is still pending.

The case is related to the withdrawal of Rs 37 crore from the Chaibasa treasury in Jharkhand in the 1990s. It is part of the bigger fodder scam that was exposed in 1996, involving the embezzlement of around Rs 1,000 crore from the state exchequer for the purchase of fictitious medicines and fodder for cattle.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader was among 44 people convicted in the Chaibasa case in 2013. Yadav has been lodged in Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Jail since a Central Bureau of Investigation court convicted him in three cases related to the scam. He already faces more than 13 years in jail.

In July 2019, the Jharkhand High Court had granted him bail in the fodder scam case related to the Deoghar treasury. The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader was given bail as he had served half of his three-and-a-half-year prison term.

The High Court’s ruling came days before the Assembly polls in the state. Elections in Bihar will be held in three phases between October 28 and November 7. This is the first election to be held in the country during the coronavirus pandemic. The Bihar Assembly has 243 seats, of which 38 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and two for Scheduled Tribes. The results will be announced on November 10.