Fodder Scam: Jharkhand High Court Denies Bail to RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav
On January 6, the RJD supremo was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail by the CBI court for fraudulent withdrawal from Deoghar treasury between 1990 and 1994 when he was the Bihar chief minister.
Ranchi, February 2: The Jharkhand High Court on Friday rejected the bail plea of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Chief and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in connection with Fodder Scam. On January 6, the RJD supremo was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail by the CBI court for fraudulent withdrawal from Deoghar treasury between 1990 and 1994 when he was the Bihar chief minister. To recall, Prasad was convicted in the first fodder scam case involving the withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore from the Chaibasa treasury in 2013.
In January, when the RJD Chief was convicted in the third fodder scam case, CBI judge SS Prasad also found another former chief minister Jagannath Mishra guilty in the case pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.62 crore from the Chaibasa treasury in the 1990s. As per reports, out of the 56 accused in the case, six were acquitted. The 69-year-old Prasad is currently lodged in the Birsa Munda Jail here.
A special CBI court had also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on him 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. Prasad was given a prison term of five years on September 30, 2013, in another fodder scam case and 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.
As per PTI reports, the Patna High Court in 1996 had ordered an inquiry into the fodder scam cases and a charge sheet in the Deogarh Treasury case was filed against 38 people on October 27, 1997. Reports state that 11of them died and three turned approvers, while two other accused confessed and were convicted in 2006-07, a CBI official said.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 02, 2018 04:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).