Lalu Prasad Yadav jailed for three and half years. No bail

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Jan 06: Former Chief Minister of Bihar Lalu Prasad Yadav was sentenced to three and half years imprisonment in a fodder scam related case.

The Special CBI judge Shivpal Singh pronounced quantum of sentence via video conferencing. The court also said if he fails to furnish the fine, his jail term would extend by six months.

Singh, on December 23, found Lalu and others guilty of fraudulently withdrawing Rs 89.23 lakh from Deoghar treasury by furnishing fake bills and vouchers related to fodder procurement between 1991 and 1994.

Prasad, in his plea, had mentioned, “I have no role in this scam directly; consider minimum punishment keeping in view my age and health grounds.”

The special CBI court had acquitted another former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra, 80, and five others – former Public Accounts Committee chairman Druv Bhagat, former Indian Revenue Service officer AC Choudhary, fodder suppliers Saraswati Chandra and Sadhana Singh and former minister Vidya Sagar Nishad.

Lalu Yadav was sent to Birsa Munda central prison immediately after the conviction. This is the second fodder scam case in which the RJD leader has been convicted. Earlier, in 2013 the CBI court had sentenced him to five years in jail in a similar case of fraudulent withdrawal.

courtesy: News 18