New Delhi - An Indian court on Saturday convicted a powerful regional politician a second time for embezzling state government funds as a top elected official two decades ago.
Judge Shivpal Singh held Laloo Prasad Yadav, former Bihar state chief minister, guilty of stealing millions from government funds. His prison term will be announced on January 3.
In 2013, another court sentenced him to five years in prison for fraudulently withdrawing about $5.8m from the Bihar state government treasury for fictitious medicines and fodder for cattle over a period of 20 years. Yadav has been barred from contesting elections.
Yadav spent two months in jail in 2013 before he got bail from the Supreme Court as he challenged his conviction. The court decision is awaited.
On Saturday, soon after the judge convicted Yadav in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state, police took him to a local prison.
His Rashtriya Janata Dal (National People's Party) spokesperson, Sanjay Jha, said his attorneys would challenge his conviction in an appeals court.
