by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Ranchi : Former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad will be jailed for 14 years in the fourth fodder scam case he has been convicted in, with a special CBI court here on Saturday sentencing him to seven years each in two cases under it, and ordering the sentences run consecutively.
Pronouncing the sentence, CBI judge Shivpal Singh sentenced the Rashtriya Janatya Dal (RJD) supremo to seven years rigorous imprisonment on the various sections of the Indian Penal Code he has been charged under and levied a fine of Rs 30 lakh, which if unpaid, would entail a further year’s simple imprisonment.
Lalu Prasad was sentenced to a similar sentence and fine on the charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
“The sentences run in the consecutive way, not concurrently,” says the judgment of the special court.
The court on March 19 convicted Lalu Prasad in the fourth fodder scam case but acquitted another former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra.
Both Lalu Prasad and Mishra are facing five cases each in the fodder scam in Ranchi.
There were 31 accused in this case, of which 19 were convicted and 12 acquitted.
Lalu Prasad was convicted in the first fodder scam case in 2013 and awarded five years in jail.
He was convicted by a special CBI court in the second case on December 23, 2017, and awarded three and half years’ imprisonment on January 6.
He was convicted in the third case on January 24, related to fraudulent withdrawals from the Chaibasa treasury, and got a five-year jail term.
The multi-million-rupee fodder scam surfaced in the 1990s when Lalu Prasad was Chief Minister of undivided Bihar. The probe was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation on the Patna High Court’s order.
The bulk of the cases were transferred to Ranchi after Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Ranchi : A special CBI court here on Monday convicted RJD chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad in the fourth fodder scam case but acquitted another former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra.
Judge Shivpal Singh delivered the judgment in case relating to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 3.13 crore from December 1995 to January 1996 from the Dumka treasury. The verdict, scheduled on March 15, was deferred four times.
The judge delivered the verdict alphabetically but Lalu Prasad — who was the Chief Minister of undivided Bihar when the multi-million-rupee fodder scam surfaced in 1990s — reached the court after it was delivered. Mishra was, however, present in the court.
Lalu Prasad was admitted to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) on Saturday after he complained of constipation. His lawyer was present when the verdict came.
After the judgment, Lalu Prasad returned to RIMS for further treatment.
This is second case in which Mishra has been acquitted. Both Lalu Prasad and Mishra are facing five cases each in the fodder scam in Ranchi.
There were 31 accused in this case, of which 19 were convicted and 12 acquitted.
According to Lalu Prasad’s lawyer Prabhat Kumar, the CBI court will deliver the quantum of the sentence later this week.
When the FIR was first filed against Lalu Prasad in 1996, there were 49 accused, out of which 14 died during trial.
Besides Mishra, the acquitted include politicians like Dhruva Bhagat, R.K. Rana and Jagdish Sharma.
Reacting to the judgement, RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said: “There were four conspirators in the case and three including Mishra have been acquitted. This indicates that (Prime Minster) Narendra Modi is playing some game. We will appeal.”
Lalu Prasad was convicted in the first fodder scam case in 2013 and awarded five years in jail.
He was convicted in the second case on December 23, 2017 and awarded three-and-a-half years imprisonment.
The RJD chief was convicted in the third case on January 24 and awarded a five-year jail term.
The bulk of the cases were transferred to Ranchi after Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Bihar BJP chief Nityanand Rai
Patna : Bihar BJP chief Nityanand Rai’s remarks linking a Muslim Lok Sabha candidate for Sunday’s by-election with the Islamic State has “exposed the communal mindset” of the ruling party, the RJD said on Saturday.
Rai on Friday sparked a major row when he told an election rally that if RJD’s Sarfaraz Alam won the by-poll in Bihar’s Araria district, it would become the global terror group’s safe hub.
The Araria Lok Sabha constituency, where some 41 per cent of electors are Muslim, goes to polls along with two assembly seats on Sunday.
Senior RJD leader Shivanand Tiwary said that in the past also BJP leaders had made such kind of statements to polarise voters in the state, recalling BJP President Amit Shah’s 2015 statement that if his party lost the Bihar assembly polls, firecrackers would burst in celebration in Pakistan.
“To palarise voters in favour of the BJP, Amit Shah stated during campaign then that if the BJP is defeated and does not form a government, firecrackers will be burst in Pakistan,” said Tiwary.
Rai in his campaign speech said nationalism would be strengthened if BJP’s Pradeep Kumar Singh was elected to the Lok Sabha.
Interestingly, Sarfaraz Alam was BJP ally JD-U’s legislator till last month when he quit and joined the RJD to contest the by-election. The Araria Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after his father Mohammad Taslimuddin, RJD MP, died last year.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Tejashwi Yadav
Ranchi : A special CBI court on Wednesday issued notices to former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and three others over their statements regarding RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s conviction in the fodder scam case.
“The CBI court of Shivapal Singh issued the notices asking why contempt should not be initiated against the four people for their statements issued after Lalu Prasad was convicted,” lawyer Arvind Singh told the media.
Besides Tejashwi Yadav, the notices were issued to former minister and senior Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, RJD spokesman Manoj Jha and Congress leader Manish Tiwary.
When Lalu Prasad was convicted in the fodder scam case on December 23, the RJD leaders had questioned the acquittal of former Bihar Chief Minister Jagganth Mishra.
They said Mishra was a Brahmin and so he was acquitted and Lalu Prasad was convicted as he belonged to backward class.
—IANS
