The special Central Bureau of Investigation court judge hearing a fodder scam case told Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday that he had received many “references” from Yadav’s supporters, ANI reported. However, the judge said he would follow only the law in deciding the quantum of punishment for the RJD chief.

On December 23, the Ranchi court had found Yadav guilty in one of the six fodder scam cases. The court convicted 14 others in the case and acquitted seven, including Jagannath Mishra who is a former chief minister of Bihar.

On Thursday, the court heard cases related to five of the convicts. The counsel for the CBI told the court to give the “maximum possible sentence” to those convicted so that “no one tries to commit such a heinous crime” again.

The court will pronounce the sentence on Friday.