Fodder scam: Lalu guilty in 4th case
MISHRA ACQUITTED Four other politicians also let off RANCHI:
A special CBI court in Ranchi on Monday convicted Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad after finding him guilty on the charges of conspiracy and corruption in the fourth fodder scam case out of the six lodged against him 22 years ago.
Prasad has been serving jail term in Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Central Jail since December 23 last year after his conviction in two other fodder scam cases. Two days ago, he was shifted to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) here after he complained of chest pain.
Barring Prasad, the court of special judge Shivpal Singh acquitted all five politicians including former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra involved in the case related to fraudulent withdrawal of ₹3.76 crore from Dumka treasury during December 1995 to January 1996.
Out of 31 accused, who had faced the trial, the court convicted 19 and acquitted 12 of them. It fixed March 21, 22 and 23 to hear arguments on point of sentences.
Prasad’s advocate Prabhat Kumar said, “The court has categorized the convicted persons in alphabetical order and formed three groups each having six convicts. It has fixed three dates allocating each group a single day to hear arguments on the FIRs registered
cr Scam amount
accused faced trial in the case
held guilty SEPTEMBER 30, 2013: RC 20(A)/96-fake withdrawal of ~37 crore from Chaibasa treasury5 years imprisonment DECEMBER 23, 2017: RC 64(A)/96-fake withdrawal of ~89.27 lakh from Deoghar treasury
3.5 years of jail term JANUARY 24, 2018: RC 68 (A)/96-fake withdrawal of ~3.61 crore from Chaibasa treasury
5 years imprisonment MARCH 19, 2018: RC 38 (A)/96-fake withdrawal of ~3.76 crore from Dumka Treasury punishment to be pronounced
Pending Case in Jharkhand: RC 47 (A)/96-fake withdrawal of ~139.39 crore from Doranda treasury. Verdict expected by yr-end
point of sentences. My client’s turn would come up on March 22.”
Judge Shivpal Singh, while communicating the verdict to the accused, found that Prasad was not present in the court. In
absence of any proper intimation about Prasad’s health condition, the judge directed jail authorities to make Prasad appear before the court.
The 69-year-old RJD chief was