Lalu Yadav’s fate hangs in balance as the CBI special court on Saturday will pronounce the verdict pertaining to the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 84.5 lakh from the Deoghar district treasury between 1994 and 1996.
Here is all you need to know about the scam:
The fodder scam was first raked up by the Comptroller General of India (CAG) in 1985.
In 1994, the issue of corruption in Bihar’s Animal Husbandry Department was raised by BJP leaders Saryu Rai, Sushil Modi and Shivanand Tiwari in the state Assembly.
The then Finance Secretary Vijay Shankar Dubey ordered a probe into various district treasuries, after which, the Deputy Commissioner Amit Khare raided the Chaibasa office of animal husbandry department and the seizures resulted in unearthing of a Rs. 100-crore scam.
According to reports, money had been fraudulently withdrawn using fake bills and vouchers against procurement of cattle feed. More than 80 employees of the Animal Husbandry Department were accused in the scam.
In 1996, the Patna High Court handed the investigation over to the CBI and in the same year, the agency registered an FIR, known as Chaibasa Treasury case.
In 1997, the CBI filed the chargesheet against Lalu and 55 others. Lalu Yadav surrendered before the CBI court and was sent to judicial custody, after he was made to resign from the post of Bihar Chief Minister.
In 2010, Rabri and Lalu were exonerated in the disproportionate assets case related to the fodder scam.
Former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad faces six cases in the fodder scam, out of which four are pending.
The CBI special court on Saturday will pronounce verdict on the case pertaining to the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 84.5 lakh from the Deoghar district treasury between 1994 and 1996. In which, Lalu Prasad Yadav is an accused.
In all, there were 34 accused in the case, out of which 11 died during the course of the trial, while one turned CBI approver and admitted to the crime. The accused list also includes former Bihar CM Jagannath Mishra.
The RJD chief Lalu Yadav has already been convicted in another fodder scam case pertaining to the fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.70 crore from the Chaibasa district treasury when Bihar was an undivided state.
The conviction cost Lalu his Lok Sabha seat and he was disqualified him from contesting elections. The Supreme Court granted him bail in December 2013.