The Special CBI Court of Ranchi on Friday sentenced 36 accused in the fodder scam case to four years in jail. The case relates to fraudulent withdrawal of public money from the Doranda treasury.
On August 28, out of the 124 facing charges, 35 accused were acquitted due to lack of evidence. The remaining 89 were found guilty. Out of these 53 were sentenced to two to three years of in jail.
On Friday, Judge Vishal Shrivastava sentenced the final 36 to four years and also imposed a fine up to ₹1 crore on two people.
All 36 have been sentenced to 4 years each including 90-year-old former District Animal Husbandry Officer Dr. Gauri Shankar Prasad.
Two fined ₹1 crore
Dr. Krishna Murari Prasad and Dr. Gauri Shankar Prasad have been fined ₹1 crore each and jailed for four years. A fine of ₹3 lakh has been imposed on several of the others.
In undivided Bihar from 1990 to 1995, about ₹36.59 crore was illegally withdrawn on the basis of fake allotment letters from Doranda treasury. An RC 48A/96 case was registered. The trial in the case went on for 27 years.
Statements of more than 500 witnesses were recorded in this case and more than 50 thousand documents and other evidence presented. Of the 124 accused, 38 are government servants, including eight treasury officials and 86 suppliers.
Many of the those convicted are between 80 to 90 years. A total of 53 cases were registered in the fodder scam case and after the judgment on the illegal withdrawal case, all cases related to the fodder scam have been decided. Former chief minister of Bihar Lalu Prasad has already been convicted in this case and is currently out of jail on bail.
The maximum number of accused was in the Doranda case and out of 53, the court has already ruled in 52 cases.
