A special CBI court in Ranchi is going to pronounce its verdict in a fodder scam where former CM of Bihar Lalu Prasad Yadav is accused of embezzlement. The case relates to more than INR 85 Lakhs being fraudulently withdrawn from Deogarh Treasury between 1991 and 1994.
Mr. Yadav, who is also the Chief of Rashtriya Janata Dal has once been convicted in another fodder scam back in 2013 for embezzling INR 37 Crores. This led to his disqualification to contest elections and he also lost his Lok Sabha seat. After getting convicted, he was given 5-year imprisonment. However, after spending two months in jail he got bail from Supreme Court in December.
This time if the court declares Lalu Yadav as a convict; he will be taken into custody with immediate effect. Apart from him, there are many others who have been accused in the case including former CM Jagannath Mishra and 19 others.
Initially, 34 people were accused but since the proceeding are going on for so long, 11 have already died during the trial. Besides, two became approvers and two admitted to the crime.
Later in 2014, The Jharkhand High Court put a stay against Lalu Yadav in four pending cases of fodder scam stating that a person who is already convicted in one case can’t be trialed in similar cases based on the same witness and evidence. This stay order was canceled by Supreme Court this year.
However, in today’s pronouncement, Lalu Prasad Yadav and his party people are hoping to get a similar verdict as given by the CBI court in the 2G scam where all accused were acquitted recently.
