Lalu Prasad Yadav, head of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and former Chief Minister of Bihar has already been convicted in four other cases related to the fodder scam was accused in the final case as well.
The former Chief Minister was convicted of fraudulent withdrawal worth Rs.139.35 crore from the Doranda Treasury in the fodder scam case by a CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) special court located in Ranchi. Around 75 people that were accused in the case including Prasad have been convicted, while 24 have been acquitted. Lalu Prasad’s quantum of punishment is expected to be decided on February 21. Currently, the former Chief Minister of Bihar is under judicial custody.
Prasad who had been making a slow comeback in the state’s politics, came to Ranchi on Sunday to be physically present in the court during the hearing of the case. Of the 75 people that have been convicted, 30 people have been punished up to 3 years in jail. Punishment for the rest of them including Prasad will be announced on February 21. Prasad has been taken into custody and a petition regarding his health has been filed in the court. He has been undergoing treatment at RIMS and AIIMS. Whether the court will send him to jail or RIMS has not been decided yet.
Prasad had already been convicted in 4 other cases related to the fodder scam, and he was accused in the fifth and final case as well. On January 29, the court had completed hearing arguments related to the Doranda Treasury embezzlement case and had reserved its previous verdict.
The court of Special CBI Judge SK Shashi had finished the hearing of the 99 accused people including Lalu Prasad Yadav which had been underway since February last year. After hearing all the arguments by January 29, the court had asked all the people who were accused to be physically present when the verdict was announced. 170 people were originally accused in the case, 55 of them have died and seven had become government witnesses, 2 had accepted charges against them and 6 are absconding.
Aside from Lalu Prasad, former Member of Parliament Jagdish Sharma, the then (PAC) Public Accounts Committee chairman Dhruv Bhagat, the Animal Husbandry Secretary Beck Julius and assistant director Dr KM Prasad are the key accused in the case as well. The Rs.950 crore scam is related to the fraudulent withdrawal of public funds from the government of India treasuries located in various districts of the undivided state of Bihar.
Lalu had been sentenced to 14 years in prison and was slapped with a fine total of Rs.60 lakh was able to secure bail in the other four cases related to Deoghar, Dumka, and Chaibasa treasuries. This fodder scam came to light in 1996 after a raid was conducted at the Animal Husbandry Department. The Central Bureau of Investigation had named Lalu as an accused in June in the year 1997. The agency had also framed charges against him.
In 2013, the trial court had convicted Prasad, Mishra, and 45 others as well in one of the cases related to the fodder scam and Lalu was imprisoned in Ranchi jail back then. In December 2013, the Supreme Court of India had granted bain to Prasad in that case but in December 2017, Prasad along with 15 others had been found guilty and was sent to Birsa Munda prison. He had been granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court in April 2021.
