Ranchi,
A special CBI court in Ranchi today held RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and 14 others guilty in the fodder scam under which a sum of Rs 89.27 lakh was fraudulently withdrawn from the Deoghar treasury, now in Jharkhand, between 1994 and 1996. However, former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra and seven others were acquitted.

The court of Shivpal Singh will pronounce the sentence on January 3, 2018.

Meanwhile, Lalu, 69, has been sent to Birsa Munda Central Jail in Hotwar, Ranchi. The court ruled that the property acquired by him after 1990 would be attached.

Krishnandan Prasad, Lalu’s counsel, said: “The CBI had filed a chargesheet against 38 persons on October 27, 1997. Eleven accused died. Three turned approvers and two were convicted in 2006-07. We will appeal for justice in the higher courts.”

Upset at the court ruling, RJD vice-president and former Union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh attacked the PM. “Lalu ko jail, Mishra ko bail, yahi hai Modi ka khel. We will fight legally and politically.”

Senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui argued: “Laluji has been charged with connivance as he was Finance Minister then. The charge is not direct. The withdrawal had been taking place since 1977. There were several CMs who were in charge of the Finance Department when Laluji was not the Finance Minister or CM. So, why is he being singled out?”

Before leaving for the court, Lalu told the media: “Every RJD worker is Lalu Prasad and will fight the BJP. The RJD will emerge stronger if I am sent to jail.” Leader of the Opposition and Lalu’s younger son Tejaswi Prasad Yadav accused the BJP of trying to “root out Opposition”.

Soon after the verdict, a post on Lalu Prasad’s Twitter handle read: “Powerful people and powerful classes always managed to divide society into ruling and the ruled classes. And whenever anyone from the lower hierarchy challenged this unjust order, they would be deliberately punished…

“Had people like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Baba Saheb Ambedkar failed in their efforts, history would have treated them as villains. They still are villains for the biased, racist and casteist minds. No one should expect any different treatment.”