Fodder Scam
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Fodder Scam was a corruption scandal that involved the
embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...
of about from the government
treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...
of the north Indian state of
Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
.'Fodder Scam' Could Bring Down a Shaky Indian Government
''The New York Times'', 1997-07-02. Accessed 2008-10-29. ''"... the scandal, said to involve $285 million, occurred in one of the country's poorest regions, the eastern state of Bihar. The money, which is reported to have been stolen over nearly 20 years, came from agricultural support programs aimed mainly at helping the 350 million Indians who live in extreme poverty ..."''
Among those implicated in the theft and arrested were then Chief Minister of Bihar,
Lalu Prasad Yadav Lalu Prasad Yadav (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He is a former Chief Minister of Bihar (1990-1997), a former Railway Minister of India (2004-2009), and a former Member of Parliam ...
, as well as former Chief Minister,
Jagannath Mishra Jagannath Mishra (24 June 1937 – 19 August 2019) was an Indian politician who served as Chief Minister of Bihar and as Minister in the Union Cabinet. He was also Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha between 1988 - 1990 and 1994 - 2000. His invo ...
. The scandal led to the end of Lalu's reign as Chief Minister. Dr. Dineshwar Prasad Sharma is also alleged to have received ₹300.60 crores from S. N. Sinha. On 23 December 2017, Lalu Prasad Yadav was convicted by a special CBI court while Jagannath Misra was acquitted. The theft spanned for many years, and allegedly involved numerous administrative and elected officials of Bihar State across multiple administrations of the
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
and the
Janata Dal Janata Dal (“People’s Party”) was an List of political parties in India, Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Jagjivan), and the Jan Morcha united on 11 ...
parties. The corruption scheme involved the fabrication of "vast herds of fictitious livestock" for which fodder, medicines and
animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...
equipment was supposedly procured.Lok Sabha, "Lok Sabha Debates, ser.11 Aug 26–30 1997 v.17 no.18-23", Lok Sabha Secretariat, Lok Sabha (House of the People), Parliament of India, 1999. Snippet: ''... The leakages are such that no benefit is accruing to the intended beneficiaries. There is a lot of corruption, not only under this Government's rule, but it has been there for quite a long time. But of late, because of the financial problem, corruption has increased appallingly. There is also the Letter of Credit scandal which is a kind of a younger sister of the chara-ghotala of Bihar. This scandal also relates to the Animal Husbandry Department, but the CBI is dragging its feet ...'' Although the scandal broke in 1996, the theft had been in progress, and increased in size, for over two decades.Stifling dissent: PM’s lost ''kavach''
''The Tribune'', 2002-01-22. Accessed 2008-10-31. ''"... Laloo has never been the kingpin but was one of the main beneficiaries of the fake purchase and distribution of the non-existent fodder for about two decades ..."''
Besides the magnitude and duration of the theft, the scam was and continues to be covered in Indian media due to the extensive nexus between tenured
bureaucrat A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", ...
s, elected politicians and businesspeople that it revealed,क्या है चारा घोटाला? ''What is the fodder scam?''
''BBC'', 2001-12-14. Accessed 2008-10-29. ''"... सीबीआई के अनुसार, राज्य के ख़ज़ाने से पैसा कुछ इस तरह निकाला गया- पशुपालन विभाग के अधिकारियों ने चारे, पशुओं की दवा आदि की सप्लाई के मद में करोड़ों रूपए के फ़र्जी बिल कोषागारों से वर्षों तक नियमित रूप से भुनाए. (According to the CBI, animal husbandry officials pilfered crores of rupees from the state treasury by filing bogus expense reports for fodder, medicines and other animal supplies) ... सीबीआई का कहना रहा है कि ये सामान्य आर्थिक भ्रष्टाचार का नहीं बल्कि व्यापक षड्यंत्र का मामला है जिसमें राज्य के कर्मचारी, नेता और व्यापारी वर्ग समान रूप से भागीदार है. मामला सिर्फ़ राष्ट्रीय जनता दल तक सीमित नहीं रहा. इस सिलसिले में बिहार के एक और पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री डॉक्टर जगन्नाथ मिश्र को गिरफ़्तार किया गया. राज्य के कई और मंत्री भी गिरफ़्तार किए गए. ... (This is not a normal case of economic corruption, says the CBI, but rather a pervasive conspiracy to steal in which state bureaucrats, elected leaders, and businesspeople were equal accomplices. Culpability is not limited to the
Rashtriya Janata Dal The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD; translation: ''National People's Party'') is an Indian political party, based in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Kerala. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav. The party's support base has tradit ...
party. A prior chief minister of Bihar, Dr.
Jagannath Mishra Jagannath Mishra (24 June 1937 – 19 August 2019) was an Indian politician who served as Chief Minister of Bihar and as Minister in the Union Cabinet. He was also Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha between 1988 - 1990 and 1994 - 2000. His invo ...
, has also been arrested as have other state ministers.) ..."''
and as an example of the
Mafia Raj ''Mafia Raj'' is a term for a criminalized nexus (or "mafia") of government officials, elected politicians, business interests and other entities (such as law-enforcement authorities, non-governmental organisations, trade unions or criminal org ...
that has penetrated several state-run economic sectors in the country. As of May 2013, the trial was completed in 44 cases out of a total of 53 cases. More than 500 accused have been
convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...
ed and awarded punishments by various courts.


The scam

The scam had its origins in small-scale embezzlement by some government employees submitting false expense reports, which grew in magnitude and drew additional elements, such as politicians and businesses, over time, until a full-fledged mafia had formed.
Jagannath Mishra Jagannath Mishra (24 June 1937 – 19 August 2019) was an Indian politician who served as Chief Minister of Bihar and as Minister in the Union Cabinet. He was also Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha between 1988 - 1990 and 1994 - 2000. His invo ...
, who served his first stint as the chief minister of Bihar in the mid-1970s, was the earliest
chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
to be accused of knowing involvement in the scam. In February 1985, the then
Comptroller and Auditor General of India The Comptroller and Auditor General of India is the supreme audit institution of India, established under Article 148 of the Constitution of India. They are empowered to audit all receipts and expenditure of the Government of India and the S ...
, T. N. Chaturvedi, took notice of delayed monthly account submissions by the Bihar state treasury and departments and wrote to the then Bihar chief minister, Chandrashekhar Singh, warning him that this could be indicative of temporary embezzlement. This initiated a continuous chain of closer scrutiny and warnings by Principal Accountant Generals (PAGs) and CAGs to the Bihar government across the tenures of multiple chief ministers (cutting across party affiliations), but the warnings were ignored in a manner that was suggestive of a pattern by extremely senior political and bureaucratic officials in the Bihar government. In 1992, Bidhu Bhushan Dvivedi, a police inspector with the state's anti-corruption vigilance unit submitted a report outlining the fodder scam and likely involvement at the chief ministerial level to the director general of the same vigilance unit, G. Narayan.Joginder Singh, "Inside CBI", Chandrika Publications, 1999, . In alleged reprisal, Dvivedi was transferred out of the vigilance unit to a different branch of the administration, and then suspended from his position. He was later to be a witness as corruption cases relating to the scam went to trial, and reinstated by order of the
Jharkhand High Court The Jharkhand High Court is one of the newest high courts in India. It was established in 2000. The court has jurisdiction over Jharkhand state. The seat of the court is at Ranchi, the administrative capital of the state. The court has a sa ...
.


Exposure and investigation

Bihar Veterinary Association for the first time exposed Animal Husbandry Mafia in its 1985 Press Conference. In 1990 the executive committee of Bihar Veterinary Association was changed and Dr Dinneshwar Prasad Sharma was made the General Secretary of BVA. Once the mafia had control over the association, they went all guns blazing. At that point, Dr. Dharmendra Sinha and Dr. Biresh Prasad Sinha (the ex-office bearers of BVA) started collecting and gathering information against this whole unethical practice of Mafia. They exposed this to all the political guns of Bihar. Among all these political guns was Sushil Kumar Modi who initiated the whole episode after it was broken out by V S Dubey. The then charismatic yet 'native' leader Lalu Prasad Yadav was the Chief Minister of undivided Bihar, where the then finance commissioner V S Dubey stumbled upon the financial irregularities of a massive scale. In 1992, then Police Inspector Bidhu Bhushan Dvivedi who was with the state vigilance department submitted a detailed report highlighting the inclusion of high-profile persons including Chief Minister and others. His reports were ignored and he was transferred to another department and was slapped with multiple frivolous inquiries and suspension. He was also threatened by hurling bomb in his residence so as to stay away from participating investigations. Although the scam was later picked by other authorities and persons of interests. He was never given true credit for unearthing the biggest scam while being in a subordinate rank with true compassion and honesty. On 19 January 1996, State Finance Secretary V S Dubey ordered district magistrates and deputy commissioners of all districts to go into cases of excessive withdrawals. He followed it up on 20 January 1996 by despatching one of his additional secretaries to make an enquiry of the excessive drawls of money by Animal Husbandry department from Ranchi treasury. The enquiry revealed a whole scale loot of government money; drawn fraudulently by forged documents. Then on 27 January 1996, the deputy commissioner of
West Singhbhum West Singhbhum or Pashchimi Singhbhum is one of the 24 districts of Jharkhand state, India. It came into existence on 16 January 1990, when the old Singhbhum district (then in Bihar) was bifurcated. Chaibasa is the district headquarters. The dis ...
district,
Amit Khare Amit Khare (born 1961) is an Indian Administrative Service officer (1985 batch) from Bihar/Jharkhand cadre and is currently serving as the advisor to prime minister Narendra Modi. He is noted for his role in bringing to light the Fodder scam, ...
, acted on direction from Vijai Shankar Dubey to conduct a raid on the offices of the animal husbandry department in the town of
Chaibasa Chaibasa is a town and a municipality in West Singhbhum district in the state of Jharkhand, India. Chaibasa is the district headquarters of West Singhbhum district. It is also the headquarter of Singhbhum Kolhan division headed by the Divisiona ...
in the district under his authority. The documents his team seized, and went public with, conclusively indicated large-scale embezzlement by an organised mafia of officials and business people. The news of fodder scam was first broken out by Indian journalist Ravi S Jha, who working with the Asian Age then in Calcutta, named the then Bihar Chief Minister of having implicit involvement in the scam. Based on evidence collected by him from Chaibasa, Jha not only found out widespread involvement of Bihar government machinery in the scam, he even mentioned how earlier governments too were taking advantage of a shoddy system, where top government officials along with the ministers were flouting norms to make money illegally. Jha, an associate director of Public Affairs, is currently working with anti-corruption crusader and good governance promoter Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament. Lalu ordered the constitution of a committee to probe the irregularities. There were fears that state police, which is accountable to the state administration, and the probe committee would not investigate the case vigorously, and demands were raised to transfer the case to the
Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmen ...
(CBI), which is under federal rather than state jurisdiction. Allegations were also made that several of the probe committee members were themselves complicit in the scam. A
public interest litigation The chief instrument through which judicial activism has flourished in India is public interest litigation (PIL) or social action litigation (SAL). ''Public interest litigation'' (PIL) refers to litigation undertaken to secure public interest and de ...
was filed with the
Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...
, which led to the court's involvement, and based on the ultimate directions issued by the supreme court, in March 1996, the
Patna High Court The Patna High Court is the High Court of the state of Bihar. It was established on 9 February 1916 and later affiliated under the Government of India Act 1915. The court is based in Patna, the administrative capital of the state of Bihar, In ...
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. Some legislators of the
Bihar Legislative Council Bihar Vidhan Parishad, also known as Bihar Legislative Council, is the upper house of the bicameral Bihar Legislature of the state of Bihar in India. History A new Province of Bihar and Odisha was created by the Government of India on 12 Decem ...
responded by claiming the court had been misinformed by the CBI and initiating a privilege motion to discuss possible action against senior figures in the regional headquarters of the CBI, which could proceed similar to a
contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...
proceeding and result in stalling the investigation or even prosecution of the named CBI officials. However, U. N. Biswas, the regional CBI director, and the other officials tendered an unqualified apology to the Legislative Council, the privilege motion was dropped, and the CBI probe continued. As the investigation proceeded, the CBI unearthed linkages to the serving chief minister of Bihar,
Lalu Prasad Yadav Lalu Prasad Yadav (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He is a former List of Chief Ministers of Bihar, Chief Minister of Bihar (1990-1997), a former Ministry of Railways (India), Railway ...
and, on 10 May 1997, made a formal request to the federally-appointed
Governor of Bihar The governor of Bihar is a nominal head and representative of the President of India in the state of Bihar. The Governor is appointed by the President for a term of 5 years. Phagu Chauhan is the current governor of Bihar. Former President Zaki ...
to prosecute Lalu (who is often referred by his first name in Indian media). On the same day, a businessman, Harish Khandelwal, who was one of the accused was found dead on train tracks with a note that stated that he was being coerced by the CBI to turn witness for the prosecution. The CBI rejected the charge and its local director, U. N. Biswas, kept the appeal to the governor in place. An Income Tax Investigation also blamed Lalu for the scam. On 8 May 2017, In a major set back for RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Supreme Court has ordered separate trials in all four cases registered against him in the Rs. 1000 crore fodder scam. The SC was hearing a CBI plea challenging the Jharkhand High Court's dropping of conspiracy charges against him. The SC asked the trial court to complete the trial in 9 months.


Path to prosecution

A few days of uncertainty followed the CBI's request to the state governor to prosecute the chief minister. The governor, A. R. Kidwai, was accountable to the federal government, and had already stated that he would need to be satisfied that strong evidence against Lalu existed before he would permit a formal indictment to proceed. The federal government, led by newly appointed prime minister
Inder Kumar Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral (4 December 1919 – 30 November 2012) was an Indian diplomat, politician and freedom activist who served as the 12th prime minister of India from April 1997 to March 1998. Born in Punjab, he was influenced by nationalist ...
who had just succeeded the short-lived government of the previous prime minister
H. D. Deve Gowda Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda (; born 18 May 1933 in) is an Indian politician from the state of Karnataka. He served as the 11th prime minister of India from 1 June 1996 to 21 April 1997. He was previously the 14th Chief Minister of Karn ...
, consisted of a
coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...
that depended on support from federal legislators affiliated with Lalu for its survival. It was also unclear why the CBI had sought the governor's consent in the first place and, when the High Court demanded to know why it was being sought, the CBI stated that it was a "precautionary measure." The High Court, questioning the tactic, warned that it would allow some time for the permission to transpire, but if it sensed a delay, it would force a prosecution on its own authority. On 17 June, the governor gave permission for Lalu 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 four of whom were
IAS IAS may refer to: Science * Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States * Image Analysis & Stereology, the official journal of the International Society for Stereology & Image Analysis. * Iowa Archeological Society, Uni ...
officers, were taken into judicial custody on the same day. The CBI also began preparing a
chargesheet In policing on the Indian subcontinent, a chargesheet is prepared after First Information Reports (FIRs), and charges an individual for (some or all of) the crimes specified in those FIR(s). Once the charge sheet has been submitted to a court ...
against Lalu to be filed in a special court. Expecting to be accused and imprisoned, Lalu filed an
anticipatory bail Anticipation is an emotion involving pleasure or anxiety in considering or awaiting an expected event. Anticipatory emotions include fear, anxiety, hope and trust. When the anticipated event fails to occur, it results in disappointment (if posit ...
petition, which the CBI opposed in a deposition to the court, listing the evidence against Lalu. Also, on 21 June, fearing that evidence and documentation that might prove essential in further exposing the scam were being destroyed, the CBI conducted raids on Lalu's residence and those of some relatives suspected of complicity. On 23 June, the CBI filed chargesheets against Lalu and 55 other co-accused, including
Chandradeo Prasad Verma Chandradeo Prasad Verma (21 January 1921– 30 April 2005) was a politician who was elected to the Lok Sabha's lower house of the Parliament of India from the Arrah, Bihar in 1977, 1980 and 1996. He was the Union Minister of State for Rural ...
(a former union minister),
Jagannath Mishra Jagannath Mishra (24 June 1937 – 19 August 2019) was an Indian politician who served as Chief Minister of Bihar and as Minister in the Union Cabinet. He was also Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha between 1988 - 1990 and 1994 - 2000. His invo ...
(former Bihar chief minister), two members of Lalu'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 A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
party, and Dhruv Bhagat of the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
) and some current and former IAS officers (including the 4 who were already in custody). Mishra was granted anticipatory bail by the Bihar state High Court. Lalu's anticipatory bail petition, however, was rejected by the same court, and he appealed to the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
, which resulted in a final denial of bail on 29 July. On the same day, Bihar state police were ordered to arrest him. The next day, he was jailed. Later, the Bihar
Director General of Police Director general of police (DGP) is a rank in the Indian Police Service, held by the highest ranking police officer in a State or a Union Territory of India, typically heading the state or the UT police force. The DGP is appointed by the cabin ...
, SK Saxena, justified the one-day delay in arresting Lalu by stating in court that "any precipitate action would have led to police firing and killing of a large number of people."


End of Lalu's chief ministership

As it became evident that Lalu would be engulfed in the scandal and its prosecution, demands for him to be removed from the chief ministership had gained momentum both from other parties, as well as within Lalu's own party, the
Janata Dal Janata Dal (“People’s Party”) was an List of political parties in India, Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Jagjivan), and the Jan Morcha united on 11 ...
. On 5 July, Lalu formally parted ways with the Janata Dal and formed his own party, the
Rashtriya Janata Dal The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD; translation: ''National People's Party'') is an Indian political party, based in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Kerala. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav. The party's support base has tradit ...
(or RJD), taking with him virtually all the Janata Dal legislators in the Bihar state assembly, and winning a
vote of confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
in the state assembly a few days later. The RJD continued to support the coalition federal government, however. With demands for his resignation continuing to mount, on 25 July, Lalu resigned from his position, but was able to install his wife,
Rabri Devi Rabri Devi Yadav (born 1 January 1955) is an Indian politician who formerly served three terms as the Chief Minister of Bihar, the first and only woman till date to have held the office. She is a Member of Bihar Legislative Council (MLC), and ...
as the new chief minister on the same day. On 28 July 1997, Rabri's new government won another vote of confidence in the Bihar legislature by 194–110, thanks to the
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
and
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Jharkhand Mukti Morcha ( lit. ''Jharkhand Liberation Front''; JMM) is a State political party in the Indian state of Jharkhand which was founded by Binod Bihari Mahato. It has one seat in the 17th Lok Sabha. Shibu Soren is the president of th ...
parties voting in alignment with the RJD. Lalu claimed he had been instrumental in helping HD Deve Gowda become the prime minister. However, there was press speculation that Gowda held a grudge against Lalu for insisting that Gowda step down when Gowda's fledgling government ran into internal coalition squabbles, and this motivated him to push CBI Director Joginder Singh for Lalu's prosecution. Much later, in 2008, Lalu also claimed that
Deve Gowda Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda (; born 18 May 1933 in) is an Indian politician from the state of Karnataka. He served as the List of Prime Ministers of India, 11th Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1 June 1996 to 21 Apri ...
confessed, and "wept and fainted," when Lalu confronted him on inciting the CBI to pursue the prosecution. Looking retrospectively, Lalu has said that the scam had a lasting negative impact on his political career, and may have ended his prospects to one day be prime minister of India. There were reports that Joginder Singh had violated norms in keeping the new prime minister, IK Gujral, in the dark as he pursued the prosecution. Gujral's own new government also depended on Lalu for support in parliament, and Joginder Singh later alleged that Gujral had attempted to block the scam investigation from proceeding. On 30 June, the federal government issued orders to transfer Singh out of the CBI and into the Home Ministry as a Special Secretary, which was technically a promotion but also had the effect of removing him from the investigation. There was also an alleged follow-on move to transfer U. N. Biswas, the regional CBI director, which led to the High Court warning that it would act to disallow any such transfer.


Prosecution

As the CBI discovered further evidence over the following years, it filed additional cases related to fraud and criminal conspiracy based on specific criminal acts of illegal withdrawals from the Bihar treasury. Most new cases filed after the division of Bihar state (into the new Bihar and
Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...
states) in November 2000 were filed in the new
Jharkhand High Court The Jharkhand High Court is one of the newest high courts in India. It was established in 2000. The court has jurisdiction over Jharkhand state. The seat of the court is at Ranchi, the administrative capital of the state. The court has a sa ...
located in Ranchi, and several cases previously filed in the
Patna High Court The Patna High Court is the High Court of the state of Bihar. It was established on 9 February 1916 and later affiliated under the Government of India Act 1915. The court is based in Patna, the administrative capital of the state of Bihar, In ...
in Patna were also transferred to Ranchi. Of the 63 cases that the agency had filed by May 2007, the majority were being litigated in the Jharkhand High Court. Lalu's initial chargesheet, filed by the CBI on 27 April 1996, was against case RC 20-A/96, relating to fraudulent withdrawals of from the Chaibasa treasury of the (then) Bihar government, and was based on statutes including
Indian Penal Code The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the official criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. The code was drafted on the recommendations of first law commission of India established in ...
sections 420 (cheating) and 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), as well as section 13(2) of the
Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (No. 49 of 1988) is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to combat corruption in government agencies and public sector businesses in India. Provisions The act consists of 5 chapters spread across ...
. Even though he had been jailed, he was kept in relative comfort at the Bihar Military Police guest house. After 135 days in judicial custody, Lalu was released on bail on 12 December 1997. The next year, on 28 October 1998, he was rearrested on a different conspiracy case relating to the fodder scam, at first being kept in the same guest house, but then being moved to Patna's Beur jail when the Supreme Court objected. After being granted bail, he was rearrested yet again in a disproportionate assets case on 5 April 2000. His wife and then Chief Minister Rabri Devi was also asked to surrender on that date, but then immediately granted bail. This stint in prison lasted 11 days for Lalu, followed by one day's imprisonment in another fodder scam case on 28 November 2000. Jagannath Mishra had been permitted bail in June 1997, and avoided judicial remand when Lalu was first detained in July 1997. However, he was taken into custody on 16 September of the same year. He was freed on bail on 13 October but then remanded again, at the same time as Lalu, on 28 October 1998, when he was kept at the same guest house as Lalu, and later shifted to Beur jail along with him. Mishra was freed on bail on 18 December, but then rearrested in a different fodder scam case on 7 June 2000. Due to the multiplicity of cases, Lalu Yadav, Jagannath Mishra, and the other accused have been remanded several times in the years since 2000. In 2007, 58 former officials and suppliers were convicted, and given terms of 5 to 6 years each. As of May 2007, about 200 people had been punished with jail terms of between 2 and 7 years. A 2005 litigation of one of the cases (RC 68-A/96) in the Jharkhand High Court involved over 20 truckloads of documents. On 1 March 2012, nearly 16 years after CBI was handled over the case, a special CBI court in Patna framed charges against
Lalu Prasad Yadav Lalu Prasad Yadav (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He is a former Chief Minister of Bihar (1990-1997), a former Railway Minister of India (2004-2009), and a former Member of Parliam ...
and
Jagannath Mishra Jagannath Mishra (24 June 1937 – 19 August 2019) was an Indian politician who served as Chief Minister of Bihar and as Minister in the Union Cabinet. He was also Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha between 1988 - 1990 and 1994 - 2000. His invo ...
along with 32 other accused. Of the total 44 accused, six have died, two have turned approvers, while two others are still evading arrest. The CBI had
chargesheet In policing on the Indian subcontinent, a chargesheet is prepared after First Information Reports (FIRs), and charges an individual for (some or all of) the crimes specified in those FIR(s). Once the charge sheet has been submitted to a court ...
ed them in this case on 3 March 2003. The court said that the trial would begin soon.


Disproportionate assets case

A disproportionate assets (DA) case was filed against Lalu in August 1998. The Income Tax claimed that Lalu had amassed wealth of Rs. 4.6 million out of the government treasury. Lalu and Rabri were
chargesheet In policing on the Indian subcontinent, a chargesheet is prepared after First Information Reports (FIRs), and charges an individual for (some or all of) the crimes specified in those FIR(s). Once the charge sheet has been submitted to a court ...
ed in April 2000 and charges were framed by the court on 9 June 2000. Finally, the couple was acquitted on 18 December 2006 by a special CBI court. CBI didn't appeal against this verdict in high court. However,
Government of Bihar The Government of Bihar, known locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Bihar and its 9 divisions which consist of 38 districts . It consists of an executive, led by the Governor of Bihar, a jud ...
challenged the verdict (of CBI court) in
Patna High Court The Patna High Court is the High Court of the state of Bihar. It was established on 9 February 1916 and later affiliated under the Government of India Act 1915. The court is based in Patna, the administrative capital of the state of Bihar, In ...
and the high court accepted the plea. This verdict of
Patna High Court The Patna High Court is the High Court of the state of Bihar. It was established on 9 February 1916 and later affiliated under the Government of India Act 1915. The court is based in Patna, the administrative capital of the state of Bihar, In ...
was challenged by Lalu and the CBI in SC. The SC in April 2010 declared that the
Government of Bihar The Government of Bihar, known locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Bihar and its 9 divisions which consist of 38 districts . It consists of an executive, led by the Governor of Bihar, a jud ...
has no right to file appeal against acquittal of the accused even in cases where the CBI refuses to challenge the trial court or High Court's verdict favouring the accused. In yet another twist in the case,
Government of Chhattisgarh Government of Chhattisgarh also known as the State Government of Chhattisgarh, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh and its 33 districts. It consists of an executive, led by the ...
in an unrelated case requested the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
to review its verdict in Lalu Yadav Disproportionate assets case. The
Government of Chhattisgarh Government of Chhattisgarh also known as the State Government of Chhattisgarh, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh and its 33 districts. It consists of an executive, led by the ...
was aggrieved by
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
verdict in DA case when it was trying to challenge the acquittal of former chief minister
Ajit Jogi Ajit Pramod Kumar Jogi (29 April 1946 29 May 2020) was an Indian politician, who served as the first chief minister of Chhattisgarh, India. He was a member of the political party named Janta Congress Chhattisgarh. Education Jogi studied Me ...
's son
Amit Jogi Amit Jogi (born 7 August 1977) is an American-born Indian politician. Early life Jogi is the son of former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Ajit Jogi. He was supposedly an Indian citizen by birth, and became an Indian citizen in July 2004 or ...
in a murder case. After the trial court in Chhattisgarh acquitted Amit Jogi in May 2007, for over three-and-a-half years, the CBI again (similar to Lalu's DA case) did not file any appeal.
Chhattisgarh High Court The Chhattisgarh High Court is one of the High Courts in India located at Village Bodri, Bilaspur with jurisdiction over the state of Chhattisgarh. It was established on 1 November 2000 with the creation of New state of Chhattisgarh upon th ...
rejected
Government of Chhattisgarh Government of Chhattisgarh also known as the State Government of Chhattisgarh, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh and its 33 districts. It consists of an executive, led by the ...
's appeal due to
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
's order (which is binding on all) in Lalu Disproportionate assets case. On 19 March 2012, the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
agreed to review its own decision in Lalu's Disproportionate assets case. However, in May 2012, Supreme Court dismissed the Review Petition holding that the earlier Judgment did not suffer from any mistake apparent on the face of the record warranting any review. On 6 January 2018, the CBI Court has awarded Lalu a three-and-a-half-year jail term and five-lakh fine.


Convictions

As of May 2013, the trial has completed in 44 cases out of a total of 53 cases. More than 500 accused have been
convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...
ed and awarded punishments by various courts. Some of the most prominent convicts include former CM of Bihar Lalu Prasad, former
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
Rabindra Kumar Rana and former
Member of Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...
Dhruv Bhagat Dhruv is a spelling variant of Dhruva. It is a Sanskrit word and commonly refers to: * Dhruva, a devotee of Vishnu who later became the Pole Star in Hindu mythology Dhruv may also refer to: Military * HAL Dhruv, a multi-role helicopter developed ...
. On 30 September 2013, a Special CBI Court in
Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...
convicted
Lalu Prasad Yadav Lalu Prasad Yadav (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He is a former Chief Minister of Bihar (1990-1997), a former Railway Minister of India (2004-2009), and a former Member of Parliam ...
and
Jagannath Mishra Jagannath Mishra (24 June 1937 – 19 August 2019) was an Indian politician who served as Chief Minister of Bihar and as Minister in the Union Cabinet. He was also Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha between 1988 - 1990 and 1994 - 2000. His invo ...
along with 44 others in the case. Thirty-seven people were taken into judicial custody. The court has announced a sentence of five years and four years for Lalu and Jagannath Mishra, respectively.


Sentence

Former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad was sentenced to five years in jail in a fodder scam case by a special CBI court on 3 October 2013. The court of Pravas Kumar Singh announced the quantum of punishment via video conference due to security reasons. Prasad has also been slapped with a fine of Rs 2.5 million. The 65-year-old leader has lost his Lok Sabha seat and is also barred from contesting election for six years following the sentencing due to an earlier Supreme Court order. Another former Bihar chief minister, Jagannath Mishra, has been handed a 4-year sentence.


Impact

Since it broke into public light, the fodder scam has become symbolic of bureaucratic corruption and the criminalisation of politics in India generally, and in Bihar in particular. It has been called a symptom of a "deep and chronic malady afflicting the Bihar government and quite a few other state governments as well." In the
Indian parliament The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...
, it was cited as an important indicator of the deep inroads made by
Mafia Raj ''Mafia Raj'' is a term for a criminalized nexus (or "mafia") of government officials, elected politicians, business interests and other entities (such as law-enforcement authorities, non-governmental organisations, trade unions or criminal org ...
in the politics and economics of the country.Lok Sabha Secretariat, "Lok Sabha Debates ser.11 Jul 29 1997 v.15 no.5", Lok Sabha (House of the People), Parliament of India, 1997. ''... mafia raj in India. The whole country is now being carried by a sinking boat of corruption. Bihar is simply a part; a simple compartment of this sinking boat of corruption. The whole affairs of Bihar should be judged in this fashion and not with any bias and political malice ... '' Reference has also been made to the anarchic nature of governance (the "withering away of the state") that occurs when a mafia develops in a state-controlled sector of the economy. The investigation and prosecution in the Fodder Scam has said to be guided by the political consideration and motive. For making a strong against case against the politicians and the bureaucrats, CBI launched the prosecution against majority of the officials including lower level staffs, which did not have any nexus with the scam. Many employees of the department were suspended and sentenced by the Courts, against whom there were evidence or direct involvement in the scam. The rationale given in the judgement for such penalty was their posting or deputation in the offices from where the scams were conducted, without any direct involvement in the scams. Due to this the family members of many employees were left without any option for earning. The trail which was started in 1996 is still in process and the fate of many innocent people has been hanging without a certainty. Lalu Prasad Yadav is the only person on whom the
Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...
debated for a complete session as the official agenda. As of now, Lalu Prasad Yadav has been awarded a three-and-a-half-year jail term and a five-lakh fine by the CBI court on 6 January 2018. On 24 January 2018 the court passed judgement for the third case and has awarded a five-year jail term and imposed a fine of ₹10,00,000/- (INR One Million) on Lalu Prasad Yadav. The total jail term in the three judgement sentences amount to 13½ years.


In Popular culture

In 2021, Indian web series Maharani was loosely based on this scam and subsequently
Rabri Devi Rabri Devi Yadav (born 1 January 1955) is an Indian politician who formerly served three terms as the Chief Minister of Bihar, the first and only woman till date to have held the office. She is a Member of Bihar Legislative Council (MLC), and ...
was made the Chief Minister of Bihar.


See also

*
Corruption in India Corruption in India is an issue which affects economy of central, state and local government agencies in many ways. Corruption is blamed for stunting the economy of India. A study conducted by Transparency International in 2005 recorded that ...
* List of political scandals in India


References


Sources

*


External links


Political Fallout of Lalu's indictment

Fodder Scam Truth
{{Scams and confidence tricks Political corruption in India Politics of Bihar Fraud in India History of Bihar (1947–present) Corruption in Bihar Crime in Jharkhand