Lalu, Mishra get 5-yr jail in 3rd fodder case

RJD chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad and 49 others, including former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra, were on Wednesday convicted in the third fodder scam case. The CBI court sentenced Lalu and Mishra to five years in jail and slapped Rs 10 lakh fine in the case related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 33.67 crore from Chaibasa treasury during 1992-93.

Lalu had earlier been awarded five years’ jail in another fodder scam case in 2013 and for three and half years in yet another case a few days back.

However, the court took a lenient view towards women accused, sentencing them to 3-year jail with Rs 80,000 fine.

Another politician Dhruv Bhagat, who pleaded innocence before the court as he was neither an MLA during 1990-95 nor he or any of his relatives had any relation with the fodder scam, was given 3-year jail and was slapped a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh. Politician Vidya Sagar Nishad was also given 3.5 years’ jail and fined Rs 1.5 lakh.

 Three IAS officers — Sajal Chakraverty, Phoolchand Singh and Mahesh Prasad —were awarded 4-year jail and were slapped a fine of Rs 2 lakh.