Bhuvana Iyer – Mumbai Uncensored, 15th February 2022
A special CBI court in Ranchi Tuesday convicted Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and 74 other accused in the fifth fodder scam pertaining to illegal withdrawal of money from the Doranda treasury.
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.
According to the court records, the charge in this case was framed against the accused persons on September 26, 2005 and the prosecution evidence was closed on May 16, 2019. The statements of accused persons were recorded on January 16, 2020. This is the fifth case of the fodder scam. Lalu Prasad has already been convicted in the previous four cases and is currently out on bail, mainly on the ground that he has served half his sentence. One more case is pending before CBI Patna pertaining to the illegal withdrawal of money from the Banka-Bhagalpur treasury.
Defence lawyer for 13 other accused Sanjay Kumar, who was present inside the court, said: “Lalu Prasad has been convicted. Out of the 99 accused, 24 have been acquitted. Out of 75, 34 accused have been sentenced to three years of imprisonment and the sentencing for the remaining accused, including Lalu Prasad, is awaited.” As many as 41 accused will go to jail Tuesday.
The RJD chief was convicted in the first fodder scam case in 2013 and awarded five years in jail. The conviction also barred him from contesting elections for 11 years in line with the Supreme Court order disqualifying convicts jailed for more than two years from contesting for six years after completion of their sentence.
Later, he secured bail in the case. Lalu was convicted by a special CBI court in the second case on December 23, 2017 and awarded three-and-half years’ imprisonment. He was convicted in the third case on January 24, 2018 related to fraudulent withdrawals from the Chaibasa treasury, and awarded a five-year jail term.
