RJD Chief Lalu Yadav sentenced to three years and six months in jail in Fodder Scam

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail by a CBI special court in a fodder scam case He was accused of fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from the Deoghar Treasury 21 years ago CBI court judge Shiv Pal Singh, who had convicted Yadav, along with ten others on December 23

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail by a CBI special court in a fodder scam case relating to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from the Deoghar Treasury 21 years ago.

CBI court judge Shiv Pal Singh, who had convicted Yadav, along with ten others on December 23, also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on him for two cases in the scam. He was fined Rs 5 lakh for each case, failing which he would serve another six months in jail, a CBI counsel said.

The court had convicted Yadav for offences of cheating, along with criminal conspiracy, under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The scam is related to withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from the Deogarh Treasury between 1990 and 1994 when Yadav was the chief minister of Bihar.

The 69-year-old RJD supremo, in a written plea yesterday, had sought leniency from the CBI court citing illness and old age, according to his counsel Chittaranjan Prasad. The RJD went into a huddle immediately after the pronouncement of the sentence. RJD sources said that the party would appeal against the verdict.

This is the second fodder scam case in which Yadav has been jailed. He was sent to prison for five years on September 30, 2013. Yadav was granted bail by the Supreme Court after having spent over two-and-a-half months in jail.