Lalu found guilty in 3rd fodder scam, gets 5 yrs of jail: Top developments

In more trouble for Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, a special CBI court in Ranchi on Wednesday sentenced him to five years in jail in a third case related to the multi-crore fodder scam.

Prasad and another former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra were sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment by the court of S S Prasad in the case related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 376.2 million from Chaibasa treasury in the early 1990s.

The court also imposed Rs 1 million fine on him and Mishra on two counts of Rs 500,000 each. 

The RJD chief is already lodged in Birsa Munda jail in Ranchi since December 23 last year in connection with the second case of fodder scam related to illegal withdrawal of Rs 8.92 million from Deogarh treasury.

In this case, there were 76 accused. While 14 died, two accused persons convicted on confession and three accused became approvers. One is still absconding.

Here are the top developments so far: 

1. With the latest judgement, Lalu Prasad has been convicted in three cases of the over Rs 9 billion fodder scam in Animal Husbandry Department of undivided Bihar when the RJD was in power.

2. Two other cases pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 39.7 million from the Dumka Treasury and Rs 184 crore from the Doranda Treasury are also lined up against Prasad and others.

3. On default of payment, both Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra will have to serve another one year term of simple imprisonment. 

4. The RJD chief was also found guilty under section 13 (2) of Prevention of Corruption Act and imprisoned for five years and fined Rs 500,000. The court said the five-year prison terms would run concurrently.

5. After the court pronounced the guilty verdict, Lalu Prasad requested that he wanted to have tea. The RJD chief then went with his security staff to have tea at the CBI court canteen.

He first drank water and later sipped tea. After that Lalu Prasad returned to the court. However, he did not speak to waiting media persons.

6. After the judgement, Prasad's son and leader of opposition in Bihar assembly Tejaswi Yadav reacted "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." He accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and BJP of framing his father who was viewed as a "hero" by masses. 

7. Nitish Kumar, however, distanced himself from the conviction of saying that he has nothing to do with it. "We don't have anything to do with this. It is a judicial decision. We will not react to it. But we will not compromise on our justice and development agenda", Nitish said. 

8. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi also stepped in support of Nitish Kumar and took strong objection to the RJD's allegation that Prasad had been "framed" in fodder scam cases at the instance of the ruling JD(U)-BJP combine in the state, saying this was tantamount to raising fingers at the judiciary. 

Modi, who was one of the petitioners on whose PIL the Patna High Court had ordered a CBI inquiry into the scam in 1996, also stressed that while the RJD was free to challenge Prasad's conviction in higher courts, their appeal would be decided on the basis of the same evidence which the CBI court had relied upon in holding him guilty.

9. JD(U) spokesman and MLC Sanjay Singh also attacked Tejashwi Yadav saying "He calls Lalu a hero despite the fact that his father has been convicted in a corruption case. This shows the low level of politics practised by the RJD".
 
10. Apart from Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra, the court also meted out the same sentence to Bihar Assembly's former Public Advisory Committee chairman Jagdish Sharma and former Bihar MLA R K Rana.

Former Bihar minister Vidya Sagar Nishad and another former Bihar MLA Dhruv Bhagat got three years sentence and Rs 150,000 fine. On default of payment of the fine, both would serve another simple imprisonment term of six months.

The CBI court sentenced three former IAS officers -- Phool Chand Singh, Mahesh Prasad and Sajal Chakraborty -- to four years imprisonment and Rs 200,000 fine. On default of payment of the fine, they will undergo three-month simple imprisonment.

The court acquitted two AHD officials Ram Prakash Ram and Dr Mukhesh Kumar Srivastav and four accused of fodder suppliers -- Ramatar Sharma, Bimla Sharma, Seema Kumar and Sudeo Rana. The rest of the former AHD officials and fodder suppliers got varying prison terms and amounts of penalty.