Lalu sent to Ranchi jail; will appeal in HC, says son

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad's eldest son Tejasavi Yadav said on Monday that the conviction of his father in a fodder scam case by a Special CBI court here would be challenged in the high court.

 

Yadav was taken to the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi today, after A CBI designated court convicted him in the fodder scam case. His son said an appeal for bail would be made.

 

"We will appeal in the high court against the order. We will also take up the issue in the people's court. We will give a fitting reply in the polls," Tejsavi told reporters after his father was taken to jail.

 

Besides Yadav, former Bihar chief minister Jagganth Mishra was also convicted in the fodder scam case. 

 

Pravas Kumar Singh, Special CBI Court judge, delivered the judgment. The final quantum of sentencing will be announced on October 3. 

 

While coming out from the court, Yadav appeared calm and did not take any question as his car sped away to the jail located at Hotwar on the outskirts of Ranchi, adjacent to the National Games Village.

 

Talking to reporters, Prabhunath Singh, an RJD Lok Sabha member, told reporters, "Earlier through petition in the high court and later in the Supreme Court, Lalu Prasad had raised questions, and doubted whether he would get justice. What was suspected has taken place."

 

Another RJD Lok Sabha member, Raghuvansh Prasad said, "The party will stay united and move ahead with collective responsibilities."

 

Lalu Yadav has been found guilty of criminal conspiracy, corruption and cheating. 

 

Forty-four other accused have also been found guilty in the 17-year old case. 

 

 

Yadav moved the Jharkhand High Court and later the Supreme Court, seeking change of the judge in the case. Both courts had dismissed his petition, and directed him to complete arguments in the case before the CBI court.

 

Yadav had in his petition alleged that the trial court judge P K Singh was biased against him as he is a relative of P K Shahi, education minister in the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, "who is his (Yadav"s) biggest political enemy".

 

The case pertains to alleged fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore from Chaibasa Treasury in the 1990s. The FIR was lodged by the Bihar government in February 1996 but the case was transferred to CBI a month later.

 

CBI had investigated the scam for a year and the charge sheet was filed in 1997. The charges were framed in 2000 following which the Special CBI court commenced trial against Lalu Yadav and 44 other accused.

 

RJD's plea had faced stiff opposition from JD-U leader Rajiv Ranjan who submitted that it would be a 'travesty of justice' if the judge is transferred at the far end of the trial.

 

He submitted that it would give a wrong impression to the entire country if the judge is transferred and raised a question on RJD supremo's petition seeking transfer of the judge who has been hearing the case since 2011.

 

The fodder scam also known as "Chara Ghotala" involved the siphoning of funds from the Bihar Government treasury. The alleged theft spanned over several years, and many Bihar state government administrative and elected officials across multiple administrations were allegedly engaged in it.

 

Additionally, there are also allegations that they were involved in the fabrication of "vast herds of fictitious livestock" for which fodder, medicines and animal husbandry equipment was supposedly procured.

 

The fodder scam was unearthed in Bihar in 1996 when Lalu Prasad was the state chief minister. He had resigned from the post in 1997 after a court issued an arrest warrant against him in connection with one of the cases.