A special CBI court on Wednesday convicted 19 fodder accused, including disqualified JD(U) MP Jagdish Sharma in the case pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 1.16 crore from Godda treasury in the 1990s.
The CBI Judge Sitaram Prasad convicted Mr. Sharma in the case RC 34 A/96, and fixed January 24 to pronounce the quantum of sentence against Mr. Sharma and 11 others. The court sentenced up to three years against seven convicts on Wednesday.
The former MP, who was taken into custody soon after the conviction, was found guilty under IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document which is known to be forged) and under Prevention of Corruption Act.
Prominent among the convicts are former AHD officials Raj Deo Sharma (ex-AHD Treasury Officer), Dr Shashi Kumar Sinha (Touring Veterinary Officer-TVO), Dr Ajit Kumar Sinha (TVO) and Bhanukar Dubey (ex-Treasury Officer). The rest convicts are fodder suppliers.
This was the 46th out of 53 fodder cases ended in convictions. Many of the convicts were among more than one fodder case.
Mr. Sharma was earlier sentenced to four years in the case RC 20A/96 on October 3, 2013 along with RJD chief Lalu Prasad, former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra and others for fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore from the Chaibasa Treasury.
He lost his membership of the Lok Sabha after he was convicted and sentenced, but got a bail on January 13 this year.
