Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav was convicted in the Doranda treasury embezzlement case by a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ranchi on Tuesday.

He was found guilty of illegal withdrawals worth ₹139.5 crore from the Doranda treasury. This is the fifth and final such case in the fodder scam which Lalu, the former Bihar chief minister and Union railways minister, has been named.

The hearing for the pronouncement of quantum of punishment for Yadav has been scheduled for February 21.

What is the Doranda treasury case?

The case is a part of the ₹950 crore fodder scam related to the withdrawal of public funds from government treasuries in various districts of undivided Bihar.

The matter was first unearthed by then Chaibasa deputy commissioner Amit Khare at the Animal Husbandry Department in January 1996. Post this, the CBI registered 53 separate cases in the same year.

Of these cases, the Doranda treasury case was the biggest one as it had the largest number of accused and the highest amount of defalcation money, Hindustan Times reported on Tuesday.

In June 1997, Yadav was named an accused in the case for the first time in the CBI’s charge sheet. Following the charge sheet and escalating pressure from opposition parties, he resigned as Bihar chief minister. He put his wife, Rabri Devi, in charge of the top post.

What are the other four cases?

The special CBI court began a trial in the fodder scam case in February 2002. Yadav’s first conviction came in September 2013 in the Chaibasa treasury case which was related to fraudulent withdrawal of ₹37.70 crore. He was sentenced to five years in prison but was granted bail by the Supreme Court that year.

In December 2017, Yadav was convicted in a second scam related to fraudulent withdrawal of ₹89.27 lakh from Deoghar treasury and was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison. He was granted bail in July 2021 after completing half of this sentence.

In January 2018, the veteran politician’s third conviction came in the Chaibasa treasury case related to the fraudulent withdrawal of ₹33.13 crore. He was awarded five years of imprisonment.

Two months later, in March 2018, Yadav was named guilty in the Dumka treasury case related to fraudulent withdrawal of ₹3.76 crore from December 1995 to January 1996. Apart from awarding a prison sentence of 14 years, the CBI special court also slapped a fine of ₹60 lakh on the RJD supremo.

How many accused are there apart from Lalu Prasad Yadav in the Doranda treasury case?

A total of 170 people have been named as accused in the case. Of these, 55 have died, seven have become government witnesses, six are absconding and two accepted the charges against them. Ninety-nine accused, including Yadav, are left against whom the special CBI court gave the verdict on Tuesday.

(With inputs from HT Correspondents, agencies)