The Chaibasa treasury case that relates to the withdrawal of Rs. 37 crore is one of six fodder scam cases in which Lalu Prasad Yadav is an accused and the first in which a verdict has been pronounced
Lalu Prasad Yadav may now face an imprisonment of minimum three and maximum seven years when the sentence is announced on October 3,2013
The other 7 accused including Former Animal husbandry Minister Vidya Sagar Nishad and Former MLA Dhruv Bhagat, 2 IAS officers and 3 suppliers who are expected to be sentenced to less than three years will be given bail later the same afternoon.
The 475 page verdict was in seven parts
The quantum of sentence will be announced Oct 3,2013
Lalu Prasad Yadav and 44 others have been charged with fraudulent withdrawal to the tune of Rs 37.7 crore on fake fodder bills from Chaibasa treasury in the 1990s in a case lodged by CBI
Former chief minister Jagannath Mishra was also convicted by a Ranchi court, along with six other politicians, two of who belong to the ruling Janata Dal-United.
Of the 64 cases in the 1996-Fodder Scam, 53 cases were litigated in Ranchi and trial has been completed in 45 cases so far. The CBI’s initial chargesheet against Lalu Prasad Prasad in April 1996 had included charges in this Chaibasa case .Lalu Prasad Yadav is accused in five cases of which four are being tried in Jharkhand and one in Bihar.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad arrives at Ranchi airport on Sunday Sep 29,2013 to appear before a CBI court in connection with fodder scam case on Monday Sep30,2013
RJD leader and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, arrives at the special CBI Court in Ranchi, Jharkhand on Monday Sep 30,2013
Consequence of the Verdict
The verdict is crucial for Lalu Prasad and his future as a political leader since the central government ordinance that would have shielded tainted and convicted parliamentarians and legislators from disqualification may be withdrawn after Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi trashed it and
The verdict in the fodder scam to have a bearing on Bihar politics, as the RJD chief stands disqualified as a Lok Sabha member. As per the Supreme Court order that an MP or legislator would stand disqualified immediately if convicted by a court for crimes with punishment of two years or more
15 years after the Rs 900-crore fodder scam broke out, former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's fate was sealed on September 30, 2013 with the CBI pronouncing him as guilty
Fodder Scam
The fodder scam that cost Lalu his chief ministership in 1997 got its name because it involved fraudulent payments of Rs 900 crore towards fodder, medicine and artificial insemination equipment of vast herds of fictitious livestock in Bihar in 1996
The multi-million animal husbandry department scam, popularly known as the fodder scam, accuses Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra, both former chief ministers of Bihar, and ministers from the department, two IAS officials and others of fraudulent withdrawal of Rs.37.70 crore from Chaibasa District treasury of Jharkhand(after the division of Bihar, the district is now in Jharkhand)
The fodder scam even threatened to bring down the UPA government as Laloo was an alliance partner of the ruling party Congress.When then Prime Minister I K Gujral persuaded Lalu to resign, he refused and instead threatened to withdraw support to the government. His famous quote then was "Jab tak hai samosa mein alu, tab tak hai Bihar mein Lalu. (Till there is potato in samosa, Lalu will be in power in Bihar."
Although the scandal broke in 1996, the theft had been in progress, and increased in size, for over two decades.
The alleged theft spanned many years, was engaged in by many Bihar state government administrative and elected officials across multiple administrations and involved the fabrication of "vast herds of fictitious livestock" for which fodder, medicines and animal husbandry equipment was supposedly procured.
On Jan 27, 1996, the Dy.Comm. of West Singhbhum Districtt, Amit Khare, acted on information to conduct a raid on the offices of the animal husbandry department in the town of Chaibasa in the district under his authority. The documents his team seized, and went public with, conclusively indicated large-scale embezzlement by an organized mafia of officials and businesspeople.
Bihar CM Laloo Prasad Yadav ordered the constitution of a committee to probe the irregularities.
A Public Interest Litigation(PIL) was filed with the SC, which led to the court's involvement, and based on the ultimate directions issued by the supreme court, on March 1996, the Bihar HC ordered that the case be handed over to the CBI .
An inquiry by the CBI began and, within days, the CBI filed a submission to the High Court that Bihar officials and legislators were blocking access to documents that could reveal the existence of a politician-official-business mafia nexus at work.
As the investigation proceeded, the CBI unearthed linkages to the serving chief minister of Bihar,Laloo Prasad Yadav and, on May 10, 1997, made a formal request to the Governor of Bihar to prosecute Laloo.
On June 17, 1997 the Governor A R Kidwai gave permission for Laloo and others to be prosecuted.Five senior Bihar government officials (Mahesh Prasad, science and technology secretary; K. Arumugam, labour secretary; Beck Julius, animal husbandry department secretary; Phoolchand Singh, former finance secretary; Ramraj Ram, former AHD director), the first 4 of whom were IAS officers, were taken into judicial custody on the same day.
On June 23,1997 the CBI filed chargesheets against Laloo(relating to fraudulent withdrawals of
37 from the Chaibasa treasury of the (then) Bihar government) and 55 other co-accused,
including Chandradeo Prasad Verma (a former union minister), Jagannath
Mishra (former Bihar chief minister), two members of Laloo's Cabinet
(Bhola Ram Toofani and Vidya Sagar Nishad), three Bihar state assembly
legislators (RK Rana of the Janata Dal, Jagdish Sharma of the Congress
party, and Dhruv Bhagat of the BJP) and some current and former IAS
officers (including the 4 who were already in custody)Jagannath Mishra (former Bihar CM)was granted anticipatory bail by the Bihar state High Court.
Laloo's anticipatory bail petition, however, was rejected by the same court, and he appealed to the SC which resulted in a final denial of bail on July 29. On the same day, Bihar state police were ordered to arrest him. The next day, he was jailed.
As Lalu's involvement became clearer, there were demands to remove him as the CM both from within and outside the party. Under pressure, Lalu did resign as CM on July 25, 1997, but he exhibited his undying spirit and installed his wife Rabri, a homemaker then, as the new CM the same day
There were a total of 56 accused in the case. But during the trial,7 accused died, 2 turned approvers, one admitted to the crime and one was discharged
Lalu Prasad quit the Chief Minister's post in 1997 when his name figured in the CBI investigations in the scam, which surfaced in 1996.
Around 54 of the 61 cases were transferred to Jharkhand, after it was created as a separate state from Bihar in November 2000
Different CBI Courts have passed judgments in more than 43 cases. Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra are accused in five cases.
Lalu Prasad moved the Jharkhand HC and later the SC, seeking change of the judge in the case. Both the Courts dismissed his petition, and directed him to complete argument in the case before the CBI special Court
Lalu has had couple of stays in jail in connection with fodder scam. He was first sent to "Judicial remand" in 1997 for 134 days in 1997. A year later in 1998, he was again sent to Beur jail for 73 days
Lalu Prasad surrendering before the CBI Court in Patna on July 30, 1997, in connection with the Rs. 950 crore fodder scam
The first CBI chargesheet was filed in 1997. The charges were framed in 2000 following which the Special CBI court commenced trial against Lalu Yadav and 44 other accused. Finally on September 17, 2013, Yadav's lawyer completed arguments in the case and the verdict was posted for September 30,2013
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