Former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav was sentenced to 14 years in prison in one of the fodder scam cases on Saturday. He was also fined Rs 60 lakh. A special court of the Central Bureau of Investigation in Ranchi had convicted the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief in the Dumka district treasury case on Monday.
Special CBI counsel Vishnu Sharma said Yadav was sentenced to seven years in jail each under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, The Hindu reported. The two sentences will run consecutively, whereas his previous sentences in fodder scam cases will run concurrently.
Yadav had fraudulently withdrawn around Rs 3.5 crore from the Dumka district’s treasury when he was the chief minister of Bihar. This is one of the six cases against him in the fodder scam.The scam – exposed in 1996 – involves the embezzlement of around Rs 1,000 crore from the state exchequer for the purchase of fictitious medicines and fodder for cattle between 1990 and 1997.
The RJD chief has been lodged in Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Jail since a CBI court convicted him in three other fodder scam cases. He already faces more than 13 years in jail.
Yadav was admitted to a Ranchi hospital last week after complaining of chest pain.
Corrections and clarifications: An earlier version of this copy erroneously said Lalu Prasad Yadav was sentenced to seven years in jail.
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