Fodder Scam: Lalu Yadav Sentenced To Three And A Half Years In Jail And Fined Rs 10 Lakh

RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has been sentenced to three-and-a-half-year imprisonment in connection with the illegal withdrawal of 89.27 lakh rupees from Deoghar Treasury, 21 years ago in the famous fodder scam. He has also been fined a million rupees. Lalu, who was lodged in Birsa Munda jail here, was sentenced via a video conference. This is the second time in four years when he have been convicted in the fodder scam.

Ranchi's special CBI court convicted him on December 23 in two cases of fraud and criminal conspiracy and corruption prevention law under the IPC. In these two cases he was sentenced to three and a half years. Both punishments  will go together. In these two cases, he has also been fined five-five lakh rupees. Filling no penalty six months of punishment will be increased. It is known that Laloo was sentenced to five years' jail on September 30, 2013 in an illegal withdrawal of Rs 37.5 crore from Chaibasa Treasury in the Rs 950 crore fodder scam. After being in jail for around two and a half months, he got bail from the Supreme Court.

The special court on Friday had heard arguments for both the parties on the conviction of 11 accused including Lalu, while the debate over Saturday's sentence for the remaining five convicts was completed. After that all were sentenced. In this case, six people, including former CM Jagannath Mishra, were acquitted by the court on December 23. Meanwhile, Lalu's son, Tejaswasu Prasad, in Patna said that after studying the decision, an appeal will be filed in the High Court against the sentence and the bail application will also be filed.

Allegations on Lalu

Due to misuse of the file sent to him for investigation of the fodder scam, he kept holding it from July 5, 1994 to February 1, 1996, and when the scandal was exposed, he ordered an inquiry on February 2.

They were also sentenced to three and a half years of punishment

Former MP RK Rana, former IAS officer Beck Julius, Mahesh Prasad and Phoolchand Singh, State Government officials Krishna Kumar and Subir Bhattacharya and Supplier / Transporter Sushil Kumar Sinha, Sunil Ku?mar Sinha, Rajaram Joshi.

I will not bow ahead of BJP

After the announcement of the sentence, Lalu tweeted, "I will give life to the struggle for social justice but I will not bow to the BJP."

What Tejasvi said

Lalu has been implicated in a false case. The BJP is troubling them, but we are not afraid  and bend over this conspiracy. We have full confidence in the court.

Find out what is 'Fodder Scam' in which Lalu got trapped

This case (RC 64A / 96) is related to illegal withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from Deoghar Treasury between 1990 and 1994. In this case, the CBI initially founded 38 accused. It has 11 deaths. Three accused became government witnesses, while two accepted their crime even before the verdict. Apart from Lalu Prasad, 22 others including former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra were also accused in this case.

Four cases are pending yet

Laloo has pending cases of illegal withdrawal of Rs 3.97 crore from Dumka Treasury in Jharkhand, 36 million from Chaibasa Treasury, Rs 184 crore from Doranda Treasury and Rs.45 lakh in Bhagalpur Treasury in Bihar.

The deputy commissioner had raised the curtain

Amit Khare, the then deputy commissioner of West Singhbhum district, raided the animal husbandry department in Chaibasa on January 27, 1996 and revealed the case. In Kolkata, Asian Age newspaper representative Ravi S Jha broke the news of the fodder scam first and it pointed to the involvement of the then Chief Minister.

More than 500 convicts have been sentenced

The trial has completed in 44 cases out of 53 of the fodder scam. So far, more than 500 accused have been convicted and they have been sentenced by different courts.

Key points associated with 'fodder scam'

In the case there was manipulation of funds in the name of feed supply from the offices of Animal Husbandry Department. The Special Court has given its verdict on 44 out of 53 cases arising out of the scam. The CBI has fixed charges against all the accused on April 5, 2000. The statements of 47 witnesses were recorded by December 2000. On March 11, 1996, the Patna High Court ordered the CBI to investigate the scam. On June 23, 1997, the CBI filed a charge sheet and made Lalu Prasad the accused. In the case, Lalu Prasad surrendered in the CBI court on July 30, 1997. The hearing began in the special CBI court of Ranchi on February 2, 2002. January 2 As of 2012, 350 prosecution witnesses were present on behalf of the prosecution. Lalu Prasad has also gone to the High Court to demand a change in the judge associated with this case. The court has also rejected Lalu Yadav's plea to replace the judge. In the case of Lalu Prasad on September 30, 2013, he was found guilty of five cases, for which he imposed a fine of up to 11 years for contesting any election and also fined 25 lakhs.