Lalu goes to jail

Ranchi: RJD chief Lalu Prasad was on Saturday sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail and fined Rs 10 lakh by a special CBI court in a fodder scam case relating to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from the Deoghar Treasury 21 years ago. The punishment was handed down to 69-year-old Prasad by CBI court judge Shiv Pal Singh through videoconferencing since the RJD leader is lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail after being convicted in the case on December 23, CBI counsel Rakesh Prasad said. This is the second time that he has been jailed in the fodder scam.

Prasad faces another three scam cases for illegal withdrawal of Rs 3.97 crore from the Dumka Treasury, Rs 36 crore from the Chaibasa Treasury and Rs 184 crore from the Doranda Treasury. The special judge also sent 15 other convicts in the case to prison for terms varying between three and six months and seven years under sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA). The CBI lawyer said a fine totaling Rs 10 lakhs was imposed on the RJD supremo.

Lalu was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for offences of cheating, read with criminal conspiracy, using as genuine a forged document and other sections under the IPC. He was also given a jail term of three years and six months in the case under the PCA.

The counsel said failure to pay a fine of Rs 5 lakh each under the IPC and the PCA would entail another six months in jail for the RJD leader. The sentences will run concurrently, he said. Prasad’s counsel Chittaranjan Sinha said his client would file an appeal next week against the verdict in the Jharkhand High Court. Reacting to the verdict, the BJP and its ally JD(U) said no one was above the law while the RJD claimed its leader fell prey to a "conspiracy" by Bihar Chief Minister and the saffron party.Prasad’s son and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said in Patna a bail plea will also be moved in the High Court.

Prasad was given a prison term of five years on September 30, 2013, in another fodder scam case. He was released on bail by the Supreme Court after having remained in jail for over two-and-a-half months. The CBI special judge had on December 23 acquitted former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra and five others in the case.

In the case order, former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee Jagdish Sharma was sentenced to a prison term of seven years and fined Rs 20 lakh while RJD leader R K Rana was jailed for three and six months and fined Rs 10 lakh.

Three former IAS officers -- Beck Julius, Phoolchand Singh and Mahesh Prasad -- were given a prison term of three and-a-half years each. A fine of Rs 5 lakh was also imposed on each of them.