Lalu appears before CBI court in fodder scam

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on 3 August appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ranchi for hearing in connection with the fodder scam case.

The fodder scam case relates to the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of Rs. 95 lakh from the Deoghar Treasury.

Overall, more than Rs.900 crore in public funds was reportedly siphoned off from the Chaibasa treasury over two decades, reports claim. Lalu Yadav has also been found guilty of fraudulent withdrawals worth Rs 37.70 crore from the Chaibasa treasury.

The RJD chief has already been convicted and sentenced to five years of imprisonment in one of the five fodder scam cases.

The Supreme Court in May had set aside Lalu Yadav's plea that the Jharkhand High Court had in 2015 quashed criminal conspiracy charges against him in connection with alleged fraudulent withdrawal of several lakhs from the Deogarh treasury, and his claim that he had already been convicted for the offence, and therefore could not be tried again.

The single bench of the apex court order headed by Justice Arun Misra set aside the verdict of the High Court. 

-ANI