Lalu Prasad gets 14 years in prison over corruption charges

PATNA, INDIA: Senior Indian politician Lalu Prasad Yadav was sentenced to 14 years of a prison sentence after being convicted on charges of embezzling an amount of 37 million rupees.

According to reports, the former chief minister of Bihar embezzled the money to buy fictitious medicines and cattle fodder from 1990 to 1997. Yadav, who already has been convicted three times in related cases, was also fined 6 million rupees.

Yadav, 69, has also served as India’s railways’ minister from 2004 to 2009. He is indefinitely banned from candidacy in future elections. Considering his ineligibility, Yadav has turned the National People’s Party in a family enterprise, appointing his wife, two sons, and daughter at the helm of affairs.

The daughter is a member of India’s parliament while the sons are appointed as lawmakers in the Bihar state.

Around 15 percent of Indian lawmakers are facing court trials on criminal charges such as rioting, murder, and extortion.

Such individuals are now barred from running in elections if they are found guilty of offenses carrying a jail term of at least two years.