A PIL was filed in Jharkhand High Court on Thursday against incarcerated RJD chief Lalu Prasad after a purported audio recording of his alleged phone call to a BJP MLA to persuade him to join the UPA fold in Bihar went viral.
Lawyer Rajeev Kumar filed the PIL to seek the court’s intervention since the use of a mobile phone by a prisoner was a blatant violation of the jail manual. The petition alleged that Lalu was making phone calls to BJP leaders with the intent to destabilise the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in neighbouring Bihar.
Soon after the PIL was filed, Lalu was moved from Kelly’s Bungalow, which is Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) director’s official residence, to the paying ward. Lalu was staying in the director’s palatial bungalow since September, and the newly-appointed RIMS director, Dr Kameshwar Prasad, has had to put up at a guest house.
Kumar’s PIL also pointed out that the high court in the past had taken cognizance of instances wherein RIMS cottages were used by high-profile convicts for the purpose of enjoyment.
Lalu, who is serving jail terms after his conviction in fodder scam cases, has been undergoing treatment at the state-run RIMS. He was shifted out of the paying ward to the director’s bungalow, also known as Kelly’s Bungalow, in August following doctors’ advice as a precautionary measure in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Opposition parties criticized this move, claiming that Lalu was not being treated as a prisoner.
On Thursday, Ranchi deputy commissioner Chhavi Ranjan issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the superintendent of Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi, asking him to state categorically how and under what circumstances a mobile phone reached Lalu at RIMS.
IG (Prisons) Birendra Bhushan said he had ordered an inquiry after hearing the purported audio recording of the conversation between Lalu and a BJP MLA in Bihar. “A prisoner is not allowed to use mobile phones. If the authenticity of the audio recording is proved, then an investigation will be initiated to find out how a mobile phone reached Lalu,” said Bhushan.
Senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi blew the whistle on the incident on Tuesday night after he claimed that Lalu had access to mobile phones, and followed it up by sharing an audio recording of a purported telephone conversation between Lalu and BJP Pirpainti MLA Lalan Paswan.
A CBI court on December 23, 2017 convicted Lalu in a fodder scam case related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89 lakh from the Deoghar treasury from 1991 to 1994 and sent him to jail. A month later, he was convicted in another fodder scam case and sentenced to five years imprisonment.
Lalu was admitted to the cardiology wing of RIMS the next year after he complained of discomfort while serving imprisonment in the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi. Since then, he has been undergoing treatment at the hospital. In 2018, he was referred to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi from where he was later discharged and sent back to Ranchi.
A hearing is scheduled on Friday on a bail petition filed by Lalu in a fodder scam case. His lawyer had earlier told the court that Lalu had served more than half of his imprisonment term.
