PATNA: A powerful Indian politician was sentenced Saturday to 14 years in prison for embezzling 37 million Indian rupees ($570,000) from a state government’s treasury while he was the state’s top elected official.

Lalu Prasad Yadav was convicted of embezzling the money to buy fictitious medicines and cattle fodder while he was chief minister of Bihar state from 1990 to 1997.

Eighteen former Bihar state officials, contractors and suppliers were sentenced in the case to jail terms ranging from 3½ to five years.

Yadav, who already has been convicted three times in related cases, was also fined six million rupees ($92,307).

Yadav, 69, who served as India’s railways minister from 2004 to 2009, is barred from contesting elections. Earlier this month, he was shifted to a hospital from a prison after he complained of chest pains in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state.

Corruption is endemic in Indian politics. Judges are now expediting trials of lawmakers accused of crimes including murder, fraud and extortion following a Supreme Court order to reach verdicts within one year in such cases. Indian lawmakers are now barred from running in elections if they are found guilty of offenses carrying a jail term of at least two years.

Yadav has turned his political party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, or the National People’s Party, into a family enterprise, with his wife, two sons and a daughter running it. The daughter is a member of India’s Parliament and the two sons have become lawmakers in Bihar state.

Around 15 per cent of Indian lawmakers are facing court trials on criminal charges such as rioting, murder and extortion, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms, an activist group.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2018

Opinion

Editorial

‘Source of terror’
Updated 29 Mar, 2024

‘Source of terror’

It is clear that going after militant groups inside Afghanistan unilaterally presents its own set of difficulties.
Chipping in
29 Mar, 2024

Chipping in

FEDERAL infrastructure development schemes are located in the provinces. Most such projects — for instance,...
Toxic emitters
29 Mar, 2024

Toxic emitters

IT is concerning to note that dozens of industries have been violating environmental laws in and around Islamabad....
Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...