Fodder scam: Lalu's fate hangs in balance; Quantum of punishment today

Ranchi: The fate of Rashtriya Janta Dal Chief Lalu Yadav hangs in balance as a special CBI court will pronounce a quantum of punishment in the multi-million Fodder Scam case on Thursday in which Lalu has already been convicted. The hearing in the case took place on Wednesday, but the pronouncement of quantum of punishment was differed till Thursday. The punishment will also be announced for 15 other people who have been held guilty. The special CBI court on Wednesday served contempt notices to senior leaders of the RJD and the Congress for criticising the December 23 conviction of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in a fodder scam case on television. CBI judge Shiv Pal Singh directed senior RJD leaders Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Shivanand Tiwari and Lalu Prasad's son Tejashwi Yadav and Congress leader Manish Tewari to personally appear before the court on January 23. Tejashwi Yadav is leader of opposition in the Bihar Assembly. The case did not come up today due to a condolence meeting held during the day to mourn the death of two lawyers, he said. The RJD chief and the 15 others who were brought to the court in the morning were taken back to jail. The court had on December 23 convicted Lalu Prasad and the other 15 in a fodder scam case, 21 years after it had surfaced. Six others, including another former chief minister, Jagannath Mishra, were acquitted. The case pertains to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from the Deoghar Treasury between 1991 and 1994.