Explained: What Is The Fodder Scam For Which Lalu Yadav Has Been Convicted

A special CBI court in Ranchi has convicted former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav to five years in prison in the fifth fodder scam case, which involved illegal withdrawals of money from the Doranda treasury. According to the lawyers, he was also fined Rs 60 lakh.

Lalu Prasad Yadav has served time in prison before, but under different circumstances. He had previously been convicted in four other cases of the fodder scam, the last in Jharkhand.

What is the Fodder scam?

File Photo

The fodder scam, popularly known as chaara ghotala, involved dozens of charges of financial irregularities amounting roughly Rs 930 crore in the animal husbandry department of the undivided Bihar between 1985-1995. It is a collective term for a group of 64 cases, 53 of which were heard in Ranchi, Jharkhand.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) cautioned about money laundering in BiharĄ¯s treasuries in 1985, when expenditure information was not provided in a timely manner. The Congress was in power in the state at the time, and the chief minister was Jagannath Mishra.

The case emerged in a big way for the first time in 1996 when the state finance secretary VS Dubey began investigating the subject and ordered inspections in all districts. Then Deputy Commissioner Amit Khare searched the Animal Husbandry Department office in Chaibasa, Jharkhand, around the same time. It uncovered a massive collection of documents revealing unlawful withdrawals as well as a link between authorities and suppliers.

HT

Following the raids, the state government established two independent one-man inquiry commissions. One of them was led by state development commissioner Phoolchand Singh, who was eventually involved in the scam. As a result of this, the commission had to be cancelled. Meanwhile, on the state government's orders, the Bihar police also filed multiple FIRs.

CBI Investigation

In the meanwhile, State BJP President Sushil Kumar Modi filed a public interest lawsuit, and the Patna High Court ordered the CBI to take over the investigation. In July 1997, the CBI filed a charge sheet against Mishra and Lalu Prasad.

PTI

There was political fallout after being listed in the CBI chargesheet. He was a member of the Janata Dal at the time, which opposed him holding the position of chief minister while being accused of a scam. In July 1997, succumbing to pressure from the Janata Dal, he formed the RJD. He resigned as chief minister, but his wife Rabri Devi took over as his replacement. The vote of confidence went in her favour.

Jharkhand was formed in 2001, and the cases were transferred to that state.

Convictions since 2013

In 2013, the RJD leader was first convicted in the Chibasa case and sentenced to five years in prison for illegal withdrawal of money. He was a Member of Parliament at the time, and his conviction banned him from contesting for election for 11 years, in accordance with a Supreme Court rule prohibiting prisoners serving more than two years in prison from contesting for six years after their term was completed.

He was later granted bail in the case. In December 2017, he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison and a fine of Rs ten lakh for illegally withdrawing funds from the Deoghar treasury. However, Jagannath Mishra was not found guilty.

He was sentenced to five years in prison in another Chaibasa treasury case for illegally withdrawing Rs 33.67 crore. In March of the same year, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for the fourth case involving a Rs 3.13 crore illegal withdrawal from the Dumka treasury. Another case involving the illegal withdrawal of money from the Banka-Bhagalpur treasury is pending before the CBI Patna.

NDTV

Hundreds of other people have been charged in the scam, apart from Lalu Yadav and Jagannath Mishra.

Will he go to jail following his recent conviction?

Special Judge SK Sashi found Lalu Prasad and 74 other accused guilty, while acquitting 24 others, in the case involving illegal withdrawals of money from the treasury in 1995-1996. His bail will be set based on the severity of the punishment and whether he has served half of the term. 74 year old Lalu had been ill and was transferred to AIIMS, Delhi, on January 23 from the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi, where he had been since August 2018, serving the most of his sentence.

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