Ranchi: Former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was sentenced to three-and-a half-years in jail by a Ranchi court on Saturday in the fodder scam case.
The punishment was handed down to 69-year-old Lalu by CBI court judge Shiv Pal Singh through videoconferencing since the RJD leader is lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail after being convicted in the case on December 23.
Soon after the sentencing, a post from his Twitter handle criticised the BJP for “fixing” him. “I will die happily fixing myself for social justice, harmony & equality,” Yadav said in the tweet.
This is the second time that he has been jailed in the fodder scam. Prasad faces another three scam cases for illegal withdrawal of Rs 3.97 crore from the Dumka Treasury, Rs 36 crore from the Chaibasa Treasury and Rs 184 crore from the Doranda Treasury.
The special judge also sent 15 other convicts in the case to prison for terms varying between three and six months and seven years under sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA).
CBI counsel Rakesh Prasad said a fine totaling Rs 10 lakhs was imposed the RJD supremo. The counsel said failure to pay a fine of Rs 5 lakh each under the IPC and the PCA would entail another six months in jail for the RJD leader.
Prasad was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for offences of cheating, read with criminal conspiracy, using as genuine a forged document and other sections under the IPC
He was also given a jail term of three years and six months in the case under the PCA. The sentences will run concurrently, he said.
Lalu’s counsel Chittaranjan Sinha said his client would filed an appeal next week against the verdict in the Jharkhand high court. His son and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said he would also move the High Court for bail. A jail term of over three years means that bail can only be granted by the HC and not the lower court.
Former Bihar CM and RJD senior leader Rabri Devi and leader of opposition Tejshwi Yadav after the press conference in Patna on Saturday. (PTI Photo)
Apart from Lalu, convicts Phool Chand, Mahesh Prasad, Beck Julious, Sunil Kumar, Sushil Kumar, Sudhir Kumar and Raja Ram have also been sentenced to three-and-half-years in jail and a Rs 5 lakh fine was imposed on them. RJD leader Jagdish Sharma got the maximum jail term, seven years, and a fine of Rs 10 lakh was imposed on him.
The court had on Friday concluded arguments on the quantum of sentence against Lalu in connection with the withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from the Deoghar Treasury between 1990 and 1994 when he was the chief minister of Bihar.
The RJD chief was given a prison term of five years on September 30, 2013, in another fodder scam case. He was released on bail by the Supreme Court after having remained in jail for over two-and-a-half months.
The CBI special judge had on December 23 acquitted former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra and five others in the case.
Reacting to the verdict, the BJP and its ally JD(U) said no one was above the law while the RJD claimed its leader fell prey to a "conspiracy" by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the saffron party.
BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain asserted the verdict shows the law was equal for all. JD(U) Secretary General K C Tyagi said a new political chapter has begun with the courts decision and it means politicians will be afraid of committing any such wrongdoing.
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