Today, a special CBI Court sentenced Rashtriya Janata Dal Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav to five years in prison for the third Fodder Scam case. RJD member Jagannath Mishra was also announced guilty and given five years imprisonment. The Court also announced a fine of Rs. 5 lakhs for both the political leaders.
This case relates to fraudulent withdrawals from the Chaibasa Treasury amounting to Rs. 33.13 crores. Lalu’s son and RJD Leader Tejashwi Yadav stated, “People know how the BJP and RSS and more importantly Nitish Kumar have conspired against Lalu ji. We will approach higher courts against all these verdicts.”
This is the third Fodder Scam case in which 56 were accused and the Court acquitted six of them. Lalu Prasad has been convicted in the other two Fodder Scam cases as well. The first case sentenced him to five years in prison and the second gave him three and a half years imprisonment.
In December last year, the RJD Chief was announced guilty in the fodder scam involving fraudulent withdrawals from the Deoghar Treasury. In 2013, the former CM was found guilty of illegally withdrawing Rs. 37.7 crores. Apart from the Fodder Scam cases, Lalu is also facing charges for illegal withdrawal from the Dumka Treasury and the Doranda Treasury.
