Patna: A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Saturday sentenced Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad to 14 years in prison in a fodder scam case, dealing a huge blow to the political career of the politician.
Prasad, who is serving another jail sentence, is currently admitted to a government hospital in Ranchi following multiple health complications.
CBI judge Shivpal Singh also imposed a fine of Rs6 million (Dh338,982) while delivering the judgement in the fourth fodder scam case pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs37.60 million from Dumka treasury in the undivided Bihar. The court also sentenced 18 other accused persons various jail terms in the case.
Prasad was not present in the court when the court pronounced the judgement since he was admitted to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi, after multiple health complications, including peri-anal abscess, increased blood sugar, stones in kidney and heart ailments.
This is the first time in five years that the RJD president has been handed such a lengthy jail term.
To date, the longest prison sentence he had been awarded was five years.
The harsh judgement came even after Prasad’s lawyers had requested the court to serve lighter punishment considering his old age, health complications and legal ordeals he had undergone in the past 22 years — since the fodder scam surfaced in 1996.
“Lalu Prasad has been sentenced to seven years in prison under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections and another seven years under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Both the sentences will run consecutively,” CBI counsel Vishnu Sharma told the media after the court judgement.
Prasad’s family said they would move the higher court in appeal, saying they were not expecting such a harsh judgement given the fact that many accused persons were acquitted by the court.
“We will challenge it in the High Court. We will decide further strategy after studying the overall judgement in four cases,” Prasad’s son Tejashwi Yadav said.
He also said he feared there were threats against his father’s life.
“I am sure there is a threat to Laluji’s life, looking at the conspiracy being planned by the BJP,” he told the media.
Party spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav said they were hugely disappointed at the court judgement.
“The judgement is totally against our expectations. We are disappointed,” he said.
The RJD president has a total of six cases — five in Jharkhand and one in Bihar — registered against him in the fodder scam. Of them, judgement has come in four cases.
In the previous three cases, he has already been served the prison sentence of 13.5 years.
The Congress came to the support of the incarcerated RJD chief facing hard times.
“Lalu Prasad is being intentionally harassed under political reasons. There is a big conspiracy against him. We were hopeful of favourable judgement but the judgement has shattered us. We are amazed,” state Congress chief,” Kaukab Qadari said.
