File Picture Courtesy : IndiaToday
Former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was sentenced by a special CBI court to three-and-a-half years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) in a fodder scam case.
Yadav was also imposed a cumulative fine of Rs 5 lakh in connection with charges under the Indian Penal Code and Rs 5 lakh pertaining to charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Failure to pay the fine will attract a further RI of six months.
As Lalu Yadav was sentenced to three and half years he was not entitled to get bail. He would have got bail had the sentence was below three years. His Lawyers are likely to file and appeal for bail in the HC court . That will take some time . Till that time he will have to cool his heel in the jail. He is likely according to various media reports will be lodged along with the other accused in the Hazaribagh open jail. Till the time of his sentencing Lalu was kept at the Birsa Munda jail in Ranchi
Jagdish Sharma, the then Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman, and former RJD leader R K Rana, were sentenced to seven years and three-and-a-half year RI respectively.
Three IAS officials – Phool Chand Singh, Beck Julius and Mahesh Prasad – too were awarded RI for three-and-a-half years. Two other officials, Subir Bhattacharjee and Dr Krishna Kumar, were sentenced to a three-and-a-half year and seven-year RI respectively.
Fines were also slapped on the three IAS officials to the tune of Rs 10 lakh (cumulative); Rs 5 lakh for Joshi and Sunil and Sushil Sinha. Besides, a fine of Rs 10 lakh was imposed on the five suppliers and contractors.
Among the suppliers and transporters, Raja Ram Joshi, Sunil Kumar Sinha and Sushil Kumar Sinha were awarded three-and-a-half year RI. The remaining five – Tripurari Mohan Prasad, Sanjay Agarwal, Sunil Gandhi, Jyoti Jha and Gopinath Das – were handed a seven-year term.
