Fodder scam verdict: Lalu Prasad Yadav and 15 others convicted by CBI court; quantum of punishment on 3 January

A special CBI court today convicted former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad and 15 others in a fodder scam case while acquitting six including another former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra.

CBI judge Shivpal Singh pronounced the verdict in a packed courtroom in the case pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from Deoghar Treasury between 1991 and 1994. According to reports, Lalu has been taken into judicial custody and will be sent to jail along with others convicted in the case. The CBI court will pronounce the quantum of punishment to Lalu Prasad and 15 others convicted in fodder scam case will on 3 January. Yadav, the chief of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and other convicts were taken into custody immediately after the pronouncement of the verdict. A charge sheet was filed against 38 persons on 27 October, 1997. Eleven of them died and three turned approvers while two other accused confessed and were convicted in 2006-07, a CBI official said. The court had reserved its order on 13 December. There are six cases related to the fodder scam, and this is the second case in which Lalu has been convicted. He will be facing four other cases. RJD leader Manoj Jha, however, termed the conviction a political conspiracy. He told ANI: “I believe in the judiciary but in this case, CBI was arranging prosecution. Legally admissible evidence provided by us were set aside.”

With inputs from PTI Click to follow live updates on the fodder scam case.