Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav was on Saturday sentenced to 14 years in prison and fined around Rs 60 lakh in connection with the fourth fodder scam case.

Initial reports had suggested that he was sentenced to seven years and fined Rs 30 lakh.

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On Monday, 19 March, Lalu was sentenced in the case involving fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 3.5 crore from the Dumka treasury between 1991 and 1996.

The former Bihar chief minister was found guilty under 120-B (criminal conspiracy), read with 419, 420, 467, 468 (pertaining to cheating, forgery etc) of Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.

The sentence was pronounced by special CBI Judge Shivpal Singh via video conferencing.

Yadav was unwell at the time the court found him guilty. He is currently admitted to RIMS hospital.

According to reports, the CBI counsel has said that Lalu has been awarded seven years imprisonment under the IPC sections and seven years under sections related to PC Act thus bringing the total to 14.

Reports say that Lalu will be serving both the sentences consecutively but his counsel has stated that the sentencing will be clearer only after the copy of the order comes.

In any case, the sentence is the maximum that Lalu has received in the convictions related to fodder scam.

Since 23 December 2017, Lalu has been lodged in the Birsa Munda jail following his conviction in the second case.

While the court found Lalu guilty, it acquitted Jagannath Mishra in the same case. Mishra, a former Bihar chief minister, has been held guilty in two previous cases.

Lalu was convicted in the first fodder scam case in 2013 and awarded five-year jail.

The RJD chief was convicted by a special CBI court in the second case on 23 December 2017, and awarded three-and-half years’ imprisonment on 6 January.

Read More: Fodder scam: Lalu found guilty in 4th case, Jagannath Mishra acquitted

He was convicted in the third case on 24 January, related to fraudulent withdrawals from the Chaibasa treasury, and awarded a five-year-jail term.

The multi-million-rupee fodder scam surfaced in the 1990s when Lalu Yadav was Chief Minister of Bihar.

The probe was handed over to the Central Bureau (CBI) of Investigation on Patna High Court’s order. The bulk of the cases were transferred to Ranchi after Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000.