RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was sentenced to three-and-half years imprisonment by a CBI court in Ranchi on Saturday in a Fodder Scam case.
Special CBI judge Shivpal Singh pronounced the sentence, which also includes a fine of Rs 5 lakh. The court had found Yadav and 15 others guilty in the case on December 23.
In order to seek bail, Yadav would have to appeal to a higher court given the relatively longer prison term of three-and-half years.
Yadav and another former Bihar chief minister, Jagannath Mishra, had been accused along with 20 others of illegally withdrawing nearly Rs 90 lakh from the Deoghar Treasury between 1991 and 1994. Mishra was acquitted in the case.
In October 2013, Yadav was convicted in another Fodder Scam case and was sentenced to five years in jail and disqualified from Parliament. However, he was granted bail by the Supreme Court later that year.
Rather than practising BJP’s Simple Rule - “Follow us or We will Fix you”. I will die happily fixing myself for Social justice, harmony & equality.
— Lalu Prasad Yadav (@laluprasadrjd) January 6, 2018
Moments after his sentencing, a defiant Yadav tweeted that he would die for social justice and harmony.
(With agency inputs)
