A special CBI court here on Wednesday convicted Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad in the third fodder scam case and sentenced him to five years in prison. The case pertains to the fraudulent withdrawal of ₹37.62 crore from the Chaibasa treasury in the 1990s.
CBI judge SS Prasad also sentenced another former chief minister, Jagannath Mishra, to a five-year term.Former Bihar minister Vidyasagar Nishad, ex-Bihar Assembly PAC chief Jagdish Sharma, former MLAs Dhruv Bhagat and RK Rana, and three ex-IAS officers were also among the 50 convicted.
The 69-year-old Prasad is currently lodged in the Birsa Munda Jail here in connection with another fodder scam case.
Of the total 76 accused, 14 have died, three turned approvers, one is absconding and two others were already convicted. Of the remaining 56, two government servants and four fodder suppliers were acquitted on Wednesday.
Soon after the verdict, the RJD said the Special CBI court order was not final and the party would challenge it in the High Court and, if necessary, in the Supreme Court.
Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly and Lalu Prasad’s son Tejashwi Yadav also accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the BJP of framing his father.
“We have to abide by whatever is the court’s ruling. But the CBI court order is not going to be final. We will appeal in the high court and, if need be, in the Supreme Court,” Yadav said.
On January 6, the RJD leader was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail and fined ₹10 lakh by a another CBI judge in a fodder scam case relating to fraudulent withdrawal of ₹89.27 lakh from the Deoghar Treasury 21 years ago.