Ranchi: Former Bihar CM is convicted in the fifth fodder scam pertaining to illegal withdrawal of money from the Doranda treasury by a special Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) court in Ranchi on Tuesday. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has earlier been found guilty in four fodder cases and is currently out on bail, on grounds that he has served half of his term. Along with Lalu, Special Judge S K Sashi also acquitted 24 accused in the case pertaining to the withdrawal of Rs 139.35 crore from the Doranda treasury of Ranchi during 1995-1996. The quantum of punishment is to be produced on February 18th.
After Lalu was pronounced the conviction of five years in 2013 for the first time, he was also barred from polling for 11 years. This came in line with the rules by SC order where convicts jailed for more than two years prohibited them from contesting for six years after completion of their sentence. He was later released on bail but wasn’t free for long after, the special CBI court in December 2017 found him guilty in another fodder scam and convicted him for three and half years. He was convicted next on January 24, 2018, related to fraudulent withdrawals from the Chaibasa treasury, and awarded a five-year jail term.
The Rs 950 crore scam relates to the fraudulent withdrawal of public funds from government treasuries in various districts of undivided Bihar. The RJD chief was imprisoned for 14 years overall and also slapped with a fine of Rs 60 lakh.