If he is convicted, Lalu Prasad will be disqualified immediately as an MP and will not be able to contest the next election.
Lalu Prasad rode an elephant back home in 1997, after being released from jail on bail in a fodder scam case. It was a signal to his substantial support base in Bihar then that not even a stint in jail could unnerve Lalu.
A lot has changed since for Mr Prasad as a Jharkhand court is set to deliver verdict in a case related to the Rs. 950 crore fodder scam, 17 years after it was filed. The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader is accused, along with 44 other people, of fraudulently withdrawing Rs. 37.7 crore from the Chaibasa district treasury, then in undivided Bihar and now a part of Jharkhand.
Mr Prasad, who reached Ranchi on Sunday with his son, Tejasvi, said, "Please let me rest and let judge sahab rest too. I will speak only tomorrow." He has asked his supporters not to come to the court today.
If he is convicted, Mr Prasad's dwindling political career could see an eclipse that will be difficult to recover from. According to a Supreme Court ruling, he will face immediate disqualification and will not be allowed to contest elections for six years after completing a prison term. Unless a higher court reverses the conviction.
The BJP had alleged last week that the Congress-led central government tried to hurriedly push through an Ordinance to overturn the Supreme Court ruling primarily to protect Mr Prasad if he is convicted. Lalu has proved a loyal ally of the Congress.
The Ordinance is now all but dead after Congress number 2 Rahul Gandhi trashed it as "complete nonsense" last Friday and suggested that "it be torn up and thrown away." Officially, the government will review it on the Prime Minister's return from the United States.
(Rahul Gandhi calls ordinance on convicted lawmakers 'nonsense') Lalu was the Bihar chief minister and considered virtually unshakeable when he had to resign in 1997 after being charged in the scam; he promptly placed his wife Rabri Devi as chief minister in his stead. But in 2005, he lost Bihar to Nitish Kumar of the JD(U).
He has tried unsuccessfully to have the judge in the case changed.
The 61 fodder-scam related cases relate to the alleged embezzlement of massive funds apportioned for fodder and medicines for non-existent cattle. Mr Prasad has been named as an accused in five.