Former Bihar chief minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was convicted by a special CBI court in Ranchi on Tuesday in the Rs 139.35-crore Doranda treasury embezzlement case, the fifth and final one against him in the multi-crore fodder scam.

The single bench special CBI court of judge S.K. Sashi will pronounce the quantum of punishment on February 21.

Soon after his conviction, Lalu, 73, was taken into judicial custody and taken to Hotwar jail in Ranchi. However, on a special petition by his legal counsel Prabhat Kumar on medical ground, Lalu was shifted to the paying ward of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) at around 5pm.

As many as 75 of the accused in the case, including Lalu, were convicted, while 24 were acquitted. Of the 75 convicted, around 30 have been given three-year jail terms.

Lalu had arrived in Ranchi on Sunday to be physically present in the court during the hearing.

Lalu has already been found guilty in four other cases related to the infamous Rs 950-crore fodder scam that involved withdrawals of Rs 37.7 crore and Rs 33.13 crore from the Chaibasa treasury, Rs 89.27 crore from the Deoghar treasury, and Rs 3.76 crore from the Dumka treasury.

So far, Lalu has been sentenced to a total of 14 years in prison, but is out on bail in the four cases in which he had been convicted. The last case — Dumka treasury — was in April last year and pertains to the fraudulent withdrawal of money by Bihar’s animal husbandry department officials between 1991 and 1996 when Lalu was the chief minister.

Lalu has also spent over 3.5 years in judicial custody as part of his sentencing.

The fifth fodder scam case, RC/47A/96, is considered the most important as it involves the biggest amount of money and longest period of fake withdrawals from the Doranda treasury between 1990-91 and 1995-96.

The amount was fraudulently withdrawn on the pretext of buying fodder, medicines and equipment for the animal husbandry department.

According to court records, the charge, in this case, was framed against the accused persons on September 26, 2005, and the prosecution evidence was closed on May 16, 2019. The statements of the accused persons
were recorded on January 16, 2020.

One more case is pending before CBI Patna pertaining to the illegal withdrawal of money from the Banka-Bhagalpur (in Bihar) treasury.

“He has challenged all four previous convictions and will likely challenge this too,” said a senior RJD leader of Jharkhand preferring anonymity.

In jail since December 2017, Lalu served most of his sentence at RIMS. He was brought to AIIMS Delhi in January last year after his health worsened.

However, if given a sentence of over three years in this case, Lalu will have to return to jail.

In his absence, his son Tejashwi led the RJD and is credited with the party’s strong show in the 2020 Bihar election. It was the first time in 40 years that Lalu missed a state poll campaign.

His absence, though, has not led to him relinquishing control over the RJD.
Last week, he made it clear he had no such plans despite his legal and medical problems. He said his son Tejashwi would have to wait before replacing him as the head of the party.

Tejashwi is now Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly.