A local CBI special court judge S K Sashi in Ranchi on Tuesday convicted fomer Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad and 74 others in the fifth fodder scam case (RC 47 A/96) related to Doranda treasury.
Lalu's lawyer Prabhat Kumar told reporters at the court that the quantum of punishment to all convicted will be pronounced by court on February 18 and 21.
"Laluji's punishment pronouncement is expected on February 21," he said. Meanwhile, sources said that Lalu's counsel has moved a plea in the court seeking permission to shift him to Rims due to poor health.
Of the total convicted today, court sentenced three year jail terms to 36 persons.
The Doranda treasury case involved fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 139 crore in 1995-96 when Lalu was the chief minister of undivided Bihar. This was the last case where the trial was pending while in four other cases associated with different treasuries, he was convicted by the courts.
Lalu was out on bail due to health grounds. CBI, which is probing all the fodder scam cases involving Lalu had pegged the fraud worth Rs 950 crore. Altogether there were 99 accused in this case out of which the court acquitted 24 persons on Tuesday.
The court found Lalu and others guilty under different provisions of IPC and Prevention of the Corruption Act, said a lawyer present at the CBI court.
Lalu reached the court around 11.15 am from the state guest house for the hearing along with his daughter Misa Bharati, close associate Abdul Bari Siddiqui and few others. CBI had originally booked 170 persons but only 99 were on trial until now as the rest had died while some had turned approvers.
Reacting to the verdict, Siddique said they were hoping for the judgment to come in their leader's favour but are disappointed. "Laluji has been a leader of the masses and always fought for the poor and downtrodden. The verdict has certainly came as a huge disappointment for us," he said.
Among the high-profile visitors, who trooped in through the day on Monday, were RJD general secretaries Siddiqui, Bhola Yadav and Shyam Rajak, the party's Jharkhand in-charge Jai Prakash Narayan and former state party president Abhay Singh.
Former state president of the RJD Gautam Sagar Rana also camped outside the guest house hoping to get Lalu’s nod to rejoin the party. He had deserted the party ahead of the 2019 elections.
The district administration had made elaborate security arrangements at the state guest house. Also, sources said, the state-run Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) had been put on alert. After his conviction in four fodder scam cases, Lalu had spent about year at RIMS from January 2018 before he was referred to AIIMS in Delhi.
