Congress defends Lalu post fodder scam verdict

Mumbai/New Delhi [India] Dec. 23 (ANI): Hours after Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was convicted in the fodder scam, the Congress Party on Saturday came out in his support, saying that he should not be tortured for a decades-old case.

Speaking to ANI, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam said that Lalu was being framed wrongly in the case.

"The investigation in the fodder scam has been going on for years and several court procedures have been done in this regard... How long will Laluji be tortured in the same case? I think action should be taken if anything wrong is done but sometimes it seems like Laluji is being targeted deliberately. He is a popular and national leader and has been sent to jail, which is wrong," Nirupam said.

Congress leader Manish Tewari also backed Lalu, dubbing the probe agencies as the "pet parrot of the present government".

"In the fodder case, the central charge is alleged embezzlement from the state treasury. Lalu Yadav has been fighting this legal battle since 1996. He and his lawyers are capable of fighting this case", he said in press conference.

He further questioned as to why the government is not investigating the Srijan scam which has same central charges as fodder scam.

"I want to ask BJP why Srijan scam is not being investigated? The central charge was same in this case. Why there is different stroked for different folks, he added

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court earlier in the day found the former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad guilty in a fodder scam case.

Besides Lalu, fourteen others have also been found guilty, while seven accused have been acquitted, including former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra.

The court is scheduled to pronounce the quantum of sentence on January 3, 2018 for the 15 guilties including Lalu Prasad.

Lalu has been convicted in the case relating to embezzling of more than Rs 89 lakh from the Deoghar Treasury between 1991 and 1994.

The fodder scam involved the embezzlement of about Rs 900 crore from the Bihar exchequer.(ANI)