14-YR JAIL FOR LALU IN FODDER SCAM

RJD chief was also fined `60 lakh be a court over fourth fodder scam case.

Former Bihar chief minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was on Saturday sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment in the fourth fodder scam case linked to illegal withdrawal of `3.31 crore government funds from the Dumka treasury by animal husbandry department officials between 1991 and 1996.

The `950 cr fodder scam involved embezzlement of treasury funds to non-existent companies for purchase and supply of cattle fodder in Bihar in mid1990s. The first case against Lalu Yadav in the scam was filed by the CBI in 1996.

CBI judge Shiv Pal Singh in Ranchi on Saturday awarded two separate sentences of seven years each to Lalu Yadav under the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Acts in the Dumka case, making it the longest jail sentence yet given to him in fodder scam cases.

Lalu Yadav, who has been in Birsa Munda Jail in Ranchi since December 23, 2017, after his conviction in two similar cases, will have to serve the two seven-year jail terms one after the other. The court also slapped a fine of `60 lakh on him during a hearing conducted through video-conferencing as Lalu Yadav was in hospital due to poor health. For default or nonpayment of fine, the RJD chief will have to spend one more year in prison for each of the two sets of sections under which he was convicted.

Soon after the court decision, Lalu Yadav’s younger son and Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Tejashwi Yadav said, “We apprehend a threat to Laluji’s life as he has been challenging the BJP’s hegemony and trying to unite the parties opposed to it across the country. He is innocent and he will get justice in the higher courts. The people of Bihar will give a befitting reply to those behind the conspiracy against the RJD supremo.”

LALU younger son Tejashwi Yadav said that there might be threat to Lalu’s life as he has been challenging the BJP’s hegemony and trying to unite the parties.