IAS officer gets four years jail in fodder case

Senior IAS officer Sajal Chakrabarty was sentenced to four years’ rigorous imprisonment in a fodder scam case, reports Madan Kumar.

Senior IAS officer Sajal Chakrabarty was on Friday sentenced to four years’ rigorous imprisonment in a fodder scam case.

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Chakrabarty, as West Singhbhum deputy commissioner was charged with not maintaining proper vigilance, which led to the fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 38.92 crore from the government treasury in 1993-94. It was alleged that he was gifted a laptop by the suppliers. The special CBI court also fined him Rs 3.5 lakh, failing which his jail term would be extended by six months.

The Jharkhand-cadre officer, who had maintained that he was not responsible for keeping track of the accounts of the administration, has been suspended. The court had earlier pronounced sentences against 60 other accused in the same case, but had to defer in the case of Chakrabarty as he fell ill in court on July 15.