The Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Court of Ranchi on Monday pronounced the verdict in the fodder scam case related to fraudulent withdrawal of public money from the Doranda treasury. Out of 124 accused, the court acquitted 35 and found 89 guilty. All the accused had to appear physically in the court of Judge Vishal Srivastava. Former Chief Minister of Bihar Lalu Prasad has already been convicted in this case and is currently out on bail.
The CBI presented more than 500 witnesses before the court and a hearing was held in 53 cases, including five cases of Mr. Prasad. Out of the 53, the court has already given its verdict in 52 cases.
The maximum number of accused was in the Doranda case.
Earlier, the verdict was given in the case of Chaibasa, Deoghar and Dumka in which many accused, including Mr. Prasad, has been sentenced.
The fodder scam took place when Mr. Prasad was the Chief Minister of undivided Bihar and the amount involved was said to be around ₹950 crores.
Out of the 124 accused, 35 were acquitted due to lack of evidence whereas 52 were sentenced to three years and the remaining 37 sentenced for more than three years of imprisonment. On September 1, the court will announce the descriptive sentence to the accused sentenced for more than three years.
Between 1990 and 1995, about ₹36.59 crore was illegally withdrawn on the basis of fake allotment letters from Doranda treasury and an RC 48A/96 case was registered. The trial in the case went on for 27 years.
On July 24, the court, while completing the hearing, reserved its verdict. It had ordered all the accused to be physically present during judgment.
Former MLA Gulshan Lal Azmani was among those on trial during which 62 accused have died. The CBI had registered a case against a total of 192 persons.
Altogether 45 public servants, including nine women, were involved in the case.
