RANCHI: A special CBI Court in Ranchi awarded a four-year imprisonment term to five persons while the other 11 accused were sentenced three years in a Fodder Scam case related to illegal withdrawal of Rs 37 crore from Chaibasa treasury.
All those who have been convicted were also slapped with fines to the tune of Rs 25,000 to Rs 7 lakh.
Notably, 46 accused persons, including RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra, had already been convicted back in 2013. Hearing of the 16 accused started late as CBI filed supplementary charge sheet against them after sentencing was completed.
The CBI had filed a supplementary charge sheet against 20 persons as they had not been included in the original list of accused after not getting sanction. While one person is absconding, three others died during trial, the counsel said.
The prosecution produced a total of 79 witnesses in the case, while the defense could produce only five. “After convicting all 16 persons in the case on Wednesday, the Special CBI Court of SN Mishra awarded four year imprisonment to five of them while 11 others were given three-year jail along with a fine imposed on them ranging between Rs 25,000 to Rs 7 lakh,” said defense advocate Sanjay Kumar.
Those who have been awarded four-year imprisonment include — Ram Avtar Sharma, Kishore Kumar Jha, Umesh Dubey, Mahendra Kumar Kundan and Basant Kumar.
The advocate said that Kundan was imposed with the maximum fine of Rs 7 lakh followed by Basant Kumar with Rs 6 lakh, Kishore Kumar Jha Rs 5 lakh, Ram Avtar Sharma Rs 4 lakh and Rs 3.5 lakh to Umesh Dubey. Those who were awarded four-year term were sent to judicial custody while the remaining 11 will be granted bail on Wednesday itself.
Other convicted persons are — Sanjeev Kumar Basudev, Anil Kumar, Rajendra Harit, Shairun Nisha, Chandrashekhar Dubey, Aditi Jodar, Shahdeo Prasad, Lal Mohan Gope, Surendra Mohan Sinha, Vimal Agrawal and BNL Lal.
The fodder scam, exposed in 1996, involves the embezzlement of around Rs 1,000 crore from the state exchequer for the purchase of fictitious medicines and fodder for cattle.
Maximum punishment
Those who have been awarded four year imprisonment include — Ram Avtar Sharma, Kishore Kumar Jha, Umesh Dubey, Mahendra Kumar Kundan and Basant Kumar.