Lalu's third fodder scam verdict today

Patna: A special CBI court in Ranchi will deliver its verdict in a fodder scam case today, in which former Bihar chief minister Lalu Yadav is an accused. Mr Yadav, chief of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, is already convicted in another fodder scam case and was sentenced to three and a half years in jail earlier this month.

Today, the verdict will be delivered in a case related to the Chaibasa Treasury from which Rs 33.67 crore were siphoned off against the actual allocation of just Rs 7.10 lakh in 1992-93.

Lalu Yadav has been named as the main conspirator in this case along with another former chief minister, Jagannath Mishra. In the last case - which dealt with fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89 lakh from the Deoghar district treasury between 1990 and 1994 - Dr Mishra was let off as the court did not find enough evidence against him.

The Chaibasa Treasury case will be the third case in which Lalu Yadav and Jagannth Mishra are accused.

After today's verdict, there will be two more cases in Jharkhand where the verdict is expected in the next few months. In one case of Doranda Treasury, the trial is still going on, while in the Dumka Treasury case, the trial is in its final stages.

Lalu Yadav's bail plea in the Deogarh Treasury case, is currently pending in the Jharkhand High Court.

The fodder scam involved the embezzlement of more than Rs. 970 crore in government funds during Lalu Yadav's term as the Chief Minister of undivided Bihar from 1990 to 1997.The accused allegedly invented vast herds of livestock to obtain public money for fodder and medicines for them.

Lalu Yadav has already been convicted in two of the five cases of fodder scam. Four years ago, he was convicted in the first case and was given a five-year jail term. After being in jail for two months, he got bail from the Supreme Court.