Lalu Prasad Yadav has spent 364 days in jail

Patna: RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, a convict in the fodder scam, suffered a massive blow on Saturday when a special CBI court sentenced him to three-and-a-half years in jail and slapped a fine of Rs 10 lakh.

He was fined Rs 5 lakh each under the IPC and the PCA, CBI counsel Rakesh Prasad said, adding that a failure to pay the fine would entail another six months in jail. 

The RJD chief, who was convicted in the second fodder scam case on December 23, is at present lodged in the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Jharkhand. His conviction and sentencing in the Deoghar treasury case will be his seventh jail journey. Earlier, he had spent around 364 days in prison.

The court had on Friday concluded arguments on the quantum of sentence against Lalu Yadav in the case. It had also heard arguments on the issue of punishment for 10 others convicts in the case. 

Lalu Yadav’s lawyers had earlier pleaded for minimal punishment for him, citing his old age and poor medical condition.

The CBI special judge had on December 23 acquitted former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra and five others in the Deoghar treasury case while upholding Lalu Yadav and 15 others guilty of furnishing fake bills and vouchers of Rs 89.27 lakh to the Deoghar treasury for fodder procurement between 1991 and 1994. Lalu Yadav was the chief minister of Bihar during the period.

In 1996, the Patna high court had ordered an inquiry into the fodder scam cases and a chargesheet in the Deogarh treasury case was filed against 38 people on October 27, 1997. Eleven of them died and three turned approvers, while two other accused confessed and were convicted in 2006-07.

On September 30, 2013, Lalu Yadav was given a prison term of five years in the first fodder scam case pertaining to illegal withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore from the Chaibasa treasury in the early 1990s. 

The conviction in the fodder scam’s Chaibasa treasury case had resulted in a major setback to Lalu Yadav as he was disqualified from contesting.