The CBI had approached the top court challenging the High Court's 2019 decision to grant Yadav bail and suspend his sentence in the case, arguing the move was made without any substantial change in circumstances. The agency contended that Yadav was the kingpin and main conspirator behind the scam, accused of fraudulently withdrawing funds from the Deoghar District Treasury between 1991 and 1994 using forged allotment letters, during his tenure as Bihar Chief Minister. A special CBI court in Ranchi had convicted Yadav in December 2017, sentencing him to seven years in prison under multiple sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing the CBI, argued that the High Court had erred by granting bail on the grounds that Yadav had completed 50 percent of his sentence, calling that basis factually incorrect since the sentences involved weren't meant to run concurrently. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Yadav, countered that the provision governing concurrent versus consecutive sentences applies only at the stage of final adjudication, not while a sentence suspension is being considered on an interim basis, and argued the High Court judge had simply applied a consistent standard within his discretion.

After hearing both sides, a bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and P.B. Varale declined to interfere with the High Court's order, noting that roughly seven years had passed since the bail was granted and that the CBI's appeal itself dates back to 2018. Rather than revisiting the bail question, the bench indicated it was more inclined to prioritise resolving the underlying appeal itself, directing the Jharkhand High Court to expedite the hearing and requesting that it be completed within six months. The court disposed of the CBI's plea while keeping the underlying legal question open for the High Court to address.

The ruling echoes the same bench's position at an earlier hearing in February, when it had already signalled reluctance to disturb Yadav's bail and a preference for fast-tracking the pending appeal instead.

Yadav, the RJD supremo and a central figure in Bihar politics for decades, has remained on bail through multiple fodder scam cases for several years now, with this latest order removing the immediate prospect of his return to custody while the underlying appeal continues.