CBI court convicts Lalu in 5th fodder scam case
The ailing 73-year-old politician was earlier sentenced to 14 years in jail in four other cases related to Dumka, Deoghar and Chaibasa treasuries. He was out on bail. A sixth and final case, pertaining to fraudulent withdrawals from Banka treasury in Bihar, is still under trial.
A special CBI court on Tuesday held former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad guilty in the fifth fodder scam case, pertaining to illegal withdrawal of ₹139.35 crore from Doranda treasury in Jharkhand.
The ailing 73-year-old politician was earlier sentenced to 14 years in jail in four other cases related to Dumka, Deoghar and Chaibasa treasuries. He was out on bail. A sixth and final case, pertaining to fraudulent withdrawals from Banka treasury in Bihar, is still under trial.
Lalu, who was present in the court, was taken into custody after special judge S K Sashi fixed February 21 for arguments on quantum of his sentence. The court acquitted 24 of 99 accused who faced trial in the case.
“Lalu was sent to Hotwar jail following the conviction. But we submitted a petition before the court with a request to allow our client to be sent to state-run Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) due to his health conditions. The court then forwarded our request to the jail superintendent to take a call in this regard,” Lalu’s counsel Anant Kumar said.
The request was accepted by the jail superintendent later in the day, following which the former chief minister, who suffers from a number of ailments, including diabetes and cardiac and renal problems, was shifted to the state-run hospital.
The fodder case pertains to illegal withdrawals worth ₹950 crore from various government treasuries for fictitious expenditure on fodder and other requirements for cattle, during Lalu’s term as Bihar chief minister. CBI had registered 53 separate cases in 1996 after the matter was first unearthed by then Chaibasa deputy commissioner Amit Khare. In 1997, CBI named him as an accused.
Of the 53 cases, the Doranda treasury case — number RC 47 (A)/96 — proved to be the biggest one as it involved the largest number of accused and the highest amount of defalcation money. In 2005, the central probe agency had framed charges against 170 people in the matter. While 55 of them died during the course of trial, eight others turned approvers. Two others pleaded guilty while six of them are absconding.
Lalu’s younger son and leader of opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav said he would challenge the verdict in the high court. “We will appeal in the high court against the lower court’s verdict. There is no need to get disappointed as Lalu ji has never been found guilty in the people’s court,” Tejashwi said.
Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party, he said: “It appears that the fodder case is the only case that has happened in independent India. Nobody wants to know anything beyond that. Only one leader is being held guilty all the time. It looks odd. Why is that Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi or people behind bank frauds of ₹22,000 crore... have not been held accountable?” he asked.
Former BJP Bihar chief Gopal Narayan Singh said Lalu is reaping what he sowed. “There is a proverb in Bhojpuri that ‘Jaisi Karni Waisi Bharni’, Lalu is getting the reward for his misdeeds,” Singh told ANI.
