Lalu takes tea break at CBI court canteen after conviction in fodder scam case

Ranchi: RJD chief Lalu Prasad appeared unfazed after his conviction in the third fodder scam case by a CBI court here on Wednesday. After the court pronounced the guilty verdict, Lalu Prasad requested the court that he wanted to have tea.

After the court granted him permission, Lalu Prasad went with his security staff to have tea at the CBI court canteen.

The RJD chief first drank water and later sipped tea. After that Lalu Prasad returned to the court. However, he did not speak to waiting media persons.

Later, after the court sentenced him to five years in jail, Lalu Prasad was taken to the Birsa Munda jail, where he is lodged in connection with the earlier fodder scam case.

Lalu Prasad was on Wednesday convicted by special CBI Judge S.S. Prasad in connection with the fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 33.67 crore from the Chaibasa Treasury in 1992-1993. 

He requested the court to give him minimum punishment as he was already serving sentence in another fodder scam case. He cited his health as another ground for reducing his sentence.

Lalu Prasad was convicted on December 23 last year and was awarded three and half years sentence on January 6 in a fodder scam related to fraudulent withdrawal from Deoghar treasury. He was convicted for the first time in a fodder scam in 2013 and he was awarded five years imprisonment.

The Rs 950 crore scam in the Animal Husbandry Department (AHD) popularly known as fodder scam case surfaced in Bihar in the 1990s. On the directive of the Patna High Court the case was handed over to the CBI. The allegation against Lalu Prasad is that he ignored the scam reports in his capacity of Finance Minister.