Digital Desk: A special Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) court in Ranchi found RJD chief and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav guilty in a fodder fraud case. This is Lalu's fifth case in which he has been convicted. Lalu has previously been found guilty in four cases relating to the multi-crore fraud case and is currently on bail.
The fodder scandal is the misappropriation of government funds intended for the Animal Husbandry Department (AHD) of numerous districts in undivided Bihar. The current case concerns an unauthorized withdrawal of Rs 139.35 crore from the Doranda treasury.
Lalu arrived in Ranchi from Patna on Sunday. Today, he appeared before the court of special CBI judge SK Shashi. On February 18, the court will decide on the severity of the punishment. If Lalu is sentenced to fewer than three years in prison, he can seek a bail plea in the lower court.
"A CBI Special Court in Ranchi sentenced 36 persons to three years in prison. Lalu Prasad Yadav was found guilty. The extent of his penalty is still to be determined." said Sanjay, a defence lawyer in the Doranda treasury case.
Lalu was convicted for the first time in 2013 in the Chaibasa treasury case, which involved a fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.67 crore. He received a sentence of five years in prison. However, in the same year, in December, the Supreme Court granted him bail. In 2017, he was found guilty in a second case involving a fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from the Deoghar treasury. He was later sentenced to 3.5 years in prison.
In the Chaibasa treasury case and the Dumka treasury case, Lalu received his third and fourth convictions in 2018. While the illegal withdrawal of Rs 33.67 crore was the subject of the Chaibasa case, the illegal withdrawal of Rs 3.5 crore was the subject of the fourth case. The court sentenced Lalu to five years in prison in the Chaibasa treasury case. In the fourth instance, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison and fined Rs 60 lakh.
Lalu is currently out on bail after challenging his convictions in the Jharkhand High Court.
The fifth case, the Doranda treasury case, is the largest in terms of embezzled funds and the number of defendants involved (170).
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