Lalu Yadav has already been convicted in four other matters related to the well known ₹950 crore fodder scam cases.
A special Central Board Investigation(CBI) court in Jharkhand’s Ranchi has found Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD) supremo and former Bihar CM Lalu Yadav guilty of illegal withdrawal of ₹139.35 crore from Doranda treasury.
This is the fifth case in which Lalu Yadav has been found guilty.The fodder scam pertains to the fraudulent withdrawal of government money allocated to the Animal Husbandry Department (AHD) of various districts in undivided Bihar. He has already been found guilty in four other cases related to the notorious ₹950 crore fodder scam – fraudulent withdrawal of ₹37.7 crore and ₹33.13 crore from Chaibasa Treasury, ₹89.27 crore from Deoghar Treasury, and ₹3.76 crore from Dumka Treasury. He is presently out on bail.
Lalu Yadav, had on Sunday reached Ranchi from Patna. He appeared physically before the court of special CBI judge SK Shashi on Monday. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced by the court on February 18. If Lalu is awarded a jail term of three years or less than three years, he can file a bail plea in the lower court.
“36 people have been given a jail term of 3 years each by a CBI Special Court in Ranchi. Lalu Yadav has been convicted. The quantum of punishment to him is yet to be pronounced,” Sanjay Kumar, defence lawyer in Doranda treasury case.
He was first convicted in 2013 in the Chaibasa treasury case related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.67 crore. He was sentenced to five years in prison. However, the Supreme Court granted him bail in December same year. He was again convicted in 2017 in a second case pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from Deoghar treasury. He was then sent to jail for 3.5 years.
Lalu Yadav’s third and fourth convictions came in 2018 in the Chaibasa treasury case and Dumka treasury case. While the Chaibasa case was related to illegal withdrawal of Rs 33.67 crore, the fourth case was about the illegal withdrawal of Rs 3.5 crore. In the Chaibasa treasury case, the court sent Lalu to jail for five years. In the fourth case, he was awarded a jail term of 14 years and a fine of Rs 60 lakh.