VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, Feb. 21: The CBI court of Sudhanshu Kumar Shashi has ensured the convicts of fodder scam case RC 47 A/96 must pay the price for being corrupt as the court has imposed a fine on 75 convicts totaling over Rs 11.93 crore. In case of the default of the payment of the fine amount, convicts will have to undergo an additional period in jail.
This includes former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav who was awarded five years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 60 lakh. The case is related to the illegal withdrawal of Rs 139.35 crores from the Doranda treasury of Ranchi during 1995-96.
On Monday when the court was deciding the fate of 40 convicts, it slapped the heavy fine on some of them. For instance, the court awarded five years as RI and Rs 1.5 crore as fine to supplier Md. Sayeed. Dayanand Kashyap, another close aide of Lalu Prasad was awarded five years as RI along with Rs one crore as fine. Similar punishment was awarded to B. B. Sinha (4 years RI, Rs One crore) whereas the court imposed the maximum fine on Tripurari Mohan Prasad (Rs 2 crore) along with 5 years as RI. Krishna Mohan Prasad was convicted with 5 years of RI and a fine of Rs 1.5 crore.
Former MLA Dr. Rabindra Kumar Rana (five years RI, Rs 60 lakh), Ravi Kumar Mehra (four years RI, Rs 10), Mahendra Kumar Kundan (four years RI, Rs 15 lakh), RK Harit (four years RI, Rs 20 lakh) are some of the convicts who have been fined heavily. A total of a Rs 10.02 Crore fine was imposed on 40 convicts.
Similarly, on February 15, the court had imposed a fine of Rs 51,70,000 on 35 convicts.
However, given the enormity of the crime and the total amount embezzled by convicts, the fine amount is very less. But a CBI official said in the judgment of the fodder scam cases, the court has always tried to recover the lost amount retrieved from convicts.
