Ranchi: RJD chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav amid the fifth fodder scam. Amid illegal withdrawals of ₹ 139.35 crore from the Doranda treasury, he has been convicted by a special CBI court in Jharkhand’s Ranchi.
Lalu Yadav has now been convicted in all five fodder scam cases, is considered as plotter was present in the courtroom Tuesday morning as Judge CK Shashi read out verdict.
24 other (of 99 total accused) were acquitted.
Among others who have been found guilty are former MP Jagdish Sharma and then Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Dhruv Bhagat. Both of them have been given three year jail term.
Lalu Yadav’s sentencing will be taking place today.
Lalu Yadav has already been found guilty in four other matters related to the infamous ₹ 950 crore fodder scam – the fraudulent withdrawals of ₹ 37.7 crore and ₹ 33.13 crore from the Chaibasa treasury, ₹ 89.27 crore from the Deoghar treasury, and ₹ 3.76 crore from the Dumka treasury.
For his conviction in the Dumka case in 2018 he was also handed a fine of ₹ 60 lakh.
Lalu Yadav has challenged all four previous convictions and will likely challenge this too.
All cases relate to the swindling of government funds meant for cattle fodder.
Until now he has been sentenced for 14 years in prison, but for now he is out on bail for all four, the last (the Dumka treasury case) was in April last year. The case involves funds taken by Bihar’s Animal Husbandry Department between 1991 and 1996, when Lalu Yadav was Chief Minister.
He has also spent over 3.5 years in judicial custody as part of his sentencing.
Since 2017, he has served most of his sentence at Jharkhand’s Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences. Amid his health state was worsening, he was brought to Delhi in January last year.
If he is given sentence in this case, he will have to return to jail.
In his absence, his son Tejashwi Yadav led the RJD and is credited with the party’s strong showing in the 2020 Bihar election; it was the first time in 40 years Lalu Yadav missed a state poll campaign.
His absence, though, has not led to him relinquishing control over the RJD.
Last week he made it clear he had no such plans, despite his legal and medical problems, and that his son, Tejashwi Yadav, would have to wait before replacing him at the head of the party
Tejashwi Yadav is now Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly.
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