Indian Politician sentenced to prison for fraud

Indian Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party supremo Lalu Prasad was on Saturday sentenced to three and a half years jail in a fodder scam case.

Special CBI judge Shivpal Singh announced the sentence after hearing arguments on the quantum of sentencing.

He also slapped a Rs 5 lakh fine on the former Bihar Chief Minister.

The court had on December 23 convicted Lalu Prasad and 15 others in the case relating to the multi-million-rupee scam.

Former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra, as well as six others, were acquitted in the case.

There are a total of six fodder scam cases against Lalu Prasad and this is the second case in which a verdict was pronounced.

The case relates to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 84.5 lakh from Deoghar district treasury.

On December 13, hearing in the case was completed in a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court of Ranchi.

In all, there were 34 accused in the case, out of whom 11 died during the course of the trial, while one turned CBI approver and admitted the crime.

After the conviction in December, the party had announced that it will challenge the verdict in the high court.

"The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) will challenge the special CBI court order at the high court soon," senior party leader Jagdanand Singh, considered close to Lalu Prasad, told the media in Patna.

Jagdanand, who is a former state minister, termed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as "tota" (parrot) and robot, controlled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government.

Lalu was first convicted on September 30, 2013, and received a five-year jail term. This disqualified him from Parliament and barred him from standing in elections. He was granted bail by the Supreme Court later that year.

Source : The Newsminute