North India Statesman
Bihar The political atmosphere in the state is getting hot as soon as the assembly elections come close to the assembly elections. Meanwhile, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary has said that, ‘The state government will collect Rs 950 crore from the criminals of the fodder scam and deposit it in the government treasury.’ It is noteworthy that former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD chief Lalu Yadav has been convicted in the fodder scam.
If someone scams, his property will be confiscated.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary said, ‘This is the decision of the court and action will be taken on the basis of this. Whether it is Lalu Yadav or someone else who has scammed, their property will be confiscated and action will be taken. This is the decision of the court, not the government. The court had clearly stated that if action has to be taken against them, the government will take action against them. It has been 28 years, the Supreme Court has also sentenced. The court has seized the property. Now it will be confiscated and the money will be deposited in the government treasury.
What is fodder scam?
The fodder scam was one of the biggest corruption scams of independent India. The matter was related to the Department of Animal Husbandry in undivided Bihar (Bihar+Jharkhand). In this scam, a large amount of money was embezzled from the government treasury through false claims related to animal fodder and animal husbandry.
The total amount of the scam is said to be around Rs 940-950 crore. The scam took place in the 1990s. At that time Lalu Prasad Yadav was the Chief Minister of Bihar. At that time it was a huge amount. The scam came to light in 1996 when Chaibasa (now in Jharkhand), Amit Khare raided the offices of the Animal Husbandry Department and found irregularities in withdrawing money through fake bills.
Patna High Court ordered a CBI inquiry into the case in March 1996 and the first FIR was registered on 27 March 1996. As the investigation proceeded, the layers slowly opened. A total of 66 cases were registered by the CBI in the fodder scam, in which more than 170 people were accused. Many of these prominent people have been sentenced.
The then Chief Minister of Bihar and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Yadav was convicted in five cases. Lalu Prasad Yadav has gone to jail a total of seven times in the cattle rearing scam case so far. He was first sentenced on 3 October 2013 in the case of illegal withdrawal from the Chaibasa treasury. Apart from this, former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra, Jagdish Sharma, R.K. Leaders and officials like Rana have also been sentenced in this case.
