RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was convicted today by a special CBI court in Ranchi in connection with fodder scam case pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of more than Rs 89 lakh from Deoghar Treasury between 1991 and 1994.
The court convicted 15 others in this case while acquitted six including another former chief minister Jagannath Mishra.
The CBI court will pronounce the quantum of sentence on January 3.
Reacting to CBI court's verdict, Lalu's son and former Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav said that the order will be challenged in the High Court.
He also alleged that Lalu Prasad was convicted because of the conspiracies hatched by the BJP and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.
A charge sheet was filed against 38 persons on October 27, 1997. Eleven of them died and three turned approvers while two other accused confessed and were convicted in 2006-07, a CBI official said.
Also Read: After his conviction, Lalu Yadav accuses BJP of playing dirty, immoral political games
The trial in the case was completed on December 13 in a special CBI court of Ranchi.
There were 34 accused in the case and 11 died during trial, while one turned CBI approver and admitted the crime.
The CBI judge first read the six names who were acquitted. The acquitted people include Mishra, former Bihar Minister Vidya Sagar Nisad and then Public Accounts Committee chairman Dhruva Bhagat.
After his conviction, Lalu Yadav accused the BJP of playing dirty and immoral political games to spoil the public perception of his opponents.
“ Shrewd BJP plays dirty and immoral political games to spoil public perception of its opponents and cover its unreal promises and misdeeds,” Lalu Prasad tweeted.
Speaking to reporters on the judgment, senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said "We are disappointed with the judgment. In the same case Jagannath Mishra has been acquitted. Lalu had got jail, while Mishra has got bail. This is the game of Narendra Modi."
Lalu Prasad and Mishra are already convicted in a fodder scam case in 2013 and are out on bail.
Both are accused in four fodder scam cases. The trial in two other cases is going on in special CBI courts of Ranchi.
The trial in three cases gained momentum in May this year after the Supreme Court directed that the trial be completed in nine months.
In Patna, the Rashtriya Janata Dal said it will challenge the verdict in the High Court.
"The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) will challenge the special CBI court's order in the High Court soon," senior party leader Jagdanand Singh, considered close to Lalu Prasad, told the media.
A former state Minister, Singh has termed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as "tota" (parrot) and robot, controlled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government.
In New Delhi, RJD leader Manoj Jha said that the "caged parrot" (referring to the CBI) has been "unleashed on political rivals" who do not bow before the BJP.
He said the decision would not weaken the RJD workers' resolve to fight back its rivals politically.
Targeting the BJP, Jha said that 11, Ashok Road (BJP headquarter in Delhi) was a "washing machine" that washes away all the taints of any person who bows before the party.
(With agency inputs)
