Lalu Prasad Yadav convicted in second fodder scam case

A special CBI court in Ranchi has convicted Lalu Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam case in which former Bihar chief ministers Yadav and Jagannath Mishra along with 20 others are accused.

The court acquitted Mishra and six others while 14 others were convicted along with the RJD chief.

The case pertains to the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from Deoghar Treasury between 1991 and 1994.

Of the six fodder scam cases registered against him, this was the second in which verdict was pronounced. The quantum of punishment will be announced on January 3.

After the first conviction, on September 30, 2013, the five-year prison sentence he got disqualified him from Parliament and he was banned from contesting elections. However, the Supreme Court granted him bail in December that year.

In all, there were 34 accused in the case, out of which 11 died during the course of the trial, while one turned CBI approver and admitted the crime.

Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra have already been convicted in another fodder scam case and they are out on bail.

The trial in two other cases is going on in the special CBI court in Ranchi.

The trial in three cases of Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra gained momentum in May this year after the Supreme Court directed the special court to complete the trial in nine months.