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A special CBI court in Ranchi, Jharkhand, has convicted Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) chief, Lalu Prasad Yadav, former chief minister of Bihar, Jaganath Mishra of Congress party, and 43 others in the 17-year-old fodder scam case.
The court will pronounce the quantum of sentence on October 3.
The fodder scam, worth over Rs 950 crore, was unearthed in the 1990s. The judgement was pronounced in case no RC/20A/96 in which the accused have been convicted of fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore. Around 61 cases have been lodged in connection with the fodder scam in various courts of Jharkhand.
JD(U) MP among 45 convicted
The convicted also include a member of Parliament (MP), Jagdish Sharma, of ruling JD (U) party in Bihar and 16 government officials.
The Conviction will disqualify Lalu Prasad Yadav as an MP. A recent Supreme Court ruling disqualifies any elected representative if convicted for over two years. Lalu’s sentence will be for three years at least and could stretch up to seven years.
Lalu’s son Tejaswi Yadav, while speaking to media persons, said that the party will approach Ranchi High Court against the conviction.
The scam
The fodder scam involved withdrawal of money for supplying non-existent fodder for imaginary livestock. The withdrawals that started during the tenure of Mishra when he was chief minister continued during the tenure of Lalu as chief minister, and spanned over a decade.
During the course of numerous hearings, it was found that in a large number of cases, fodder was not purchased or delivered and fake bills produced.
Lalu had lost his post as chief minister after he was convicted in one of the court cases relating to the scam. He has been convicted in four other cases relating to fodder scam—case nos RC 68A/96, RC 38A/96, RC 64A/96 and RC 47A/96.