Fodder scam: CBI court sentences RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav to 5 years in jail, imposes Rs 60 Lakh fine

The special CBI court had on Tuesday, 15 February, pronounced Lalu Prasad Yadav guilty in Ranchi`s Doranda treasury case - the fifth fodder scam case he has been convicted in.

RANCHI: The special CBI court in Ranchi on Monday sentenced former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav to 5 years imprisonment in the final and fifth fodder scam case. The special CBI court also slapped a Rs 60 Lakh fine on the veteran Bihar politician in connection with the case.

The court pronounced the sentence after virtually hearing arguments on the quantum of the sentence.

The special CBI court had last week convicted RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in the case and found him guilty of fraudulent withdrawal of more than one hundred and 39 crores amount from Doranda Treasury in Jharkhand.

Apart from Prasad, former MP Jagdish Sharma, the then Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Dhruv Bhagat, Animal Husbandry Secretary Beck Julius and Animal Husbandry Assistant Director Dr K M Prasad are the main accused in the case.

The special court, however, acquitted 24 other accused due to the lack of evidence. After his conviction in the case on February 15, the ailing 73-year old former Bihar chief minister was lodged in the Birsa Munda Central Jail and then shifted to state-run Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi.

Special CBI court judge SK Shashi had earlier ordered Lalu Yadav and the other 99 accused to physically appear in the court. The RJD supremo, who has been sentenced to 14 years in prison and slapped with a total fine of Rs 60 lakh, has secured bail in the four cases related to Dumka, Deoghar and Chaibasa treasuries.

This scam happened when Lalu Yadav was the Chief Minister of Bihar before the formation of Jharkhand. The fodder scam came to light in January 1996 after a raid at the Animal Husbandry Department. The CBI named Prasad as an accused in June 1997. The agency framed charges against Prasad and former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recorded statements of more than 565 witnesses in more than 15 years of its probe in connection with the fodder scam. Meanwhile, the CBI could not trace the six accused till date and 55 accused died during this period.