Ranchi: Special CBI court in Ranchi sentenced RJD chief and former chief minister of Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav to 5 years in jail in the third fodder scam case on Wednesday.
Along with Lalu, former Bihar chief Jagannath Mishra, was also sentenced to five years in prison in the case.
Both Lalu Yadav and Jagannath Mishra, were also fined Rs 5 lakhs each by Ranchi Court.
The conviction and the quantum of punishment was delivered in a case related to the Chaibasa Treasury from which Rs 33.67 crore were siphoned off against the actual allocation of just Rs 7.10 lakh in 1992-93.
Lalu Yadav has been named as the main conspirator in this case.
After the conviction on Wednesday, Lalu’s son Tejashwi Yadav said his RJD will move higher courts against all the verdicts against the RJD chief.
“People know how BJP, RSS and more importantly Nitish Kumar have conspired against Laluji. We will approach higher courts against all these verdicts,” said Tejashwi.
Lalu Prasad is already convicted in another fodder scam case and was sentenced to three and a half years in jail earlier in January.
The last case in which the RJD chief was convicted and sent to jail dealt with fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89 lakh from the Deoghar district treasury between 1990 and 1994.
After the Chaibasa Treasury verdict, there are two more cases in Jharkhand where the verdict is expected in the coming months. In one case of Doranda Treasury, the trial is still going on, while in the Dumka Treasury case, the trial is in its final stages.
Lalu’s bail plea in the Deogarh Treasury case, is currently pending in the Jharkhand High Court.
The fodder scam involved the embezzlement of more than Rs 970 crore in government funds during Lalu Yadav's term as the Chief Minister of undivided Bihar from 1990 to 1997.
The accused allegedly invented vast herds of livestock to obtain public money for fodder and medicines for them.
