likely to move Jharkhand HC on October 17
Former Bihar Chief Minister lalu Prasad was on Thursday jailed for five years for his role in the `950-crore fodder scam that surfaced 17-years-ago. A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ranchi sentenced the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief to rigorous imprisonment for five years and also slapped a fine of Rs 25 lakh on him.
With this, lalu became the second politician after Rasheed Masood to lose his Parliamentary seat after a recent Supreme Court judgement removed immunity for convicted lawmakers. The 69-year-old lalu automatically lost his lok Sabha seat and stands disqualified as an MP, barred from contesting elections for the next 11 years following his sentencing. He is likely to move the Jharkhand High Court on October 17.
“When I have not done any crime, how have I been punishedIJ” a dazed lalu Prasad, asked when the court announced the sentence. Judge Pravas Kumar Singh retorted: “You can appeal in the higher court.”
Another former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra was jailed for four years and slapped a fine of Rs 2 lakh. The court pronounced the judgement in his absence as he was admitted to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences after he complained of uneasiness. Among a total of 37 convicts who were sentenced, JD(U) leader Jagdish Sharma was also jailed for four years and fined Rs 5 lakh.
“lalu Prasad has been sentenced to five year’s rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 25 lakh while Jagannath Mishra has been given a four-year jail term and he will have to pay Rs 2 lakh as fine,” said CBI counsel BMP Singh. lalu along with Jagannath Mishra and Jagdish Sharma has been sentenced under Section 120 (B) read with 420, 409, 467, 468, 471, 477 (A) of IPC and 13 (2) read with 13(1) (D) of Prevention of Corruption Act, added Singh.
Four IAS officers and 25 suppliers convicted by the CBI in the same case have been awarded imprisonment for four years each and have been slapped fines to the tune of Rs 2 lakh to 1.5 crore.
Six of the officials, the then DAHO Ranchi, Braj Nandan Sharma, MVO Ranchi, Gaya Prasad Tripathy, Asssistant Director (Planning) AHD, KM Prasad, Retd Regional Director South Chotanagpur Range, Kirti Narayan Jha and Retd. Budget and Accounts Officer, Directorate, AHD Patna, Braj Bhushan Prasad have been sentenced to five years’ Rigorous Imprisonment and have been imposed a fine of Rs 1.5 crore.
22 suppliers and four IAS officers on the other hand have been sentenced to four years in jail while Chaibasa Treasury officer Shilas Tirkey has been given five years in jail and a fine of Rs 20 lakh has been imposed on him.
CBI Judge PK Singh pronounced the judgement against lalu and other 36 people convicted by the same court on Monday through a video conference in the jail complex itself. A total of 45 accused had been found guilty on Monday by the CBI court of which eight were granted bail as they were accused of minor charges.
lalu, who was the last to be sentenced, said: “I expected this from you. The petitioner himself has been made an accused in the case. Injustice has been done to me.”
Though the media was not allowed inside the e-court, it was jam-packed with advocates and CBI personnel. Each of the accused were called one by one, and the sentences were pronounced.
Supplier Ravi Kumar Sinha was the first to be called by the court and lalu was the last. The whole process took 27 minutes which went on from 2:10 pm to 2:37 pm.
Supplier Mahendra Prasad pleaded that in spite of submitting several documents to prove himself innocent, none were exhibited. To this the court replied that those documents were forged.
Before that arguing from lalu’s side Senior Advocate of Bhopal High Court Surendra Singh pleaded that he should be given a light sentence in view of his status, age and ill-health.
“The case went on for 17 years. This itself was a punishment for him. Also, he had to remain in jail for six months during the trial. Moreover, no allegation was made against lalu after 1995, during which he was the Union Railway Minister and worked for the betterment of society. Hence, the question of dishonesty cannot arise,” pleaded lalu’s counsel Singh.
Countering lalu’s counsel, CBI advocate BMP Singh said all the convicts have given the same argument, citing old age, status etc.
“Corruption is very common in society and such cases rarely come to light. People with having such a high status should not commit such offences. The society must deterrent lessons to the society so that such offences may not happen again, hence deterrent punishment must be given to them,” countered the CBI counsel.
The CBI counsel also justified the time taken during the trial as it was deliberately delayed by the defense and the case was run in several courts.
Earlier the court in the morning explained that the 560 page judgment consist of 7 parts and any page or paragraph could be located easily just by going through its index. Judgment has been made available on the site of Jharkhand High Court http://jharkhandhighcourt.nic.in/ for the convenience of the people.