Lalu Prasad Yadav sentenced to 5 years of jail, Rs 60 lakh fine in fifth fodder scam case

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ranchi, Jharkhand has sentenced RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav to five years of imprisonment and has slapped Rs 60 lakh fine on him in the fifth fodder scam, as reported by news agency ANI.

The sentencing has been done in relation to the fifth fodder scam case that pertains to the illegal withdrawal of Rs 139.5 crore from the Doranda treasury. There were a total of 99 accused in the fodder scam, and Lalu Prasad Yadav was declared guilty on February 15.

Lalu, 75, appeared in the court virtually. He is in judicial custody and is admitted to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) due to his poor health conditions, as per IANS inputs.

Besides Lalu Prasad, the court had convicted 74 others, including former MP Jagadish Sharma, Public Accounts Committee president Dhruv Bhagat in the case while 24 were acquitted for want of evidence.

Before this, Lalu Prasad, who is the former chief minister of Bihar was sentenced to 27.5 years of imprisonment after being found guilty in four cases related to the Rs 950 crore fodder scam. In the fifth case related to the scam, an FIR was lodged in the Doranda police station in 1996 and later the CBI took over the case for investigation.

Out of the total 170 accused in the fodder scam case, 55 of the people have died. Seven of the rest accused became witnesses, two confessed to the crime while six are still absconding.

During the hearing of the case in the CBI special court, 575 people testified on behalf of the prosecution, while 35 from the defendants. The probe agency produced 15 documents in the case.