VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, Feb. 15: The special CBI court of Sudhanshu Kumar Shashi in Ranchi on Tuesday, February 15, convicted former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad in fodder scam case no. RC 47 A/96 related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 139.35 crores from Doranda treasury of Ranchi during 1995-96.
This is the fifth fodder scam case where Lalu Prasad was convicted. Currently, he was on bail in all these four cases.
The CBI alleged him as the kingpin of a Rs 950 crore fodder scam case that rocked Bihar in the 90s.
This is how CBI secured his conviction
During the trial, the CBI had contended that he had patronized the scam as the chief minister of Bihar from 1990 to 1997. He was also holding the finance department.
For instance, Lalu Prasad was confronted whether or not he was aware of the report of the deputy AG in April 1990 that had pointed out several anomalies.
The AG report had pointed out fictitious transportation of cattle in vehicles like cars, scooters, and auto-rickshaws. The CBI alleged that Lalu Prasad in a criminal conspiracy with co-accused Raja Ram (now dead) termed these entries as inadvertent errors and directed to correct the registration number.
The CBI said that two MLCs of the Bihar assembly, Kripa Nath Pathak and Shatrughan Prasad Singh, in March 1991 had raised the issue of alleged fodder scam in the assembly. As a CM he gave assurance of action but did not order any inquiry. The CBI said that Lalu Prasad tried to prevent police or CBI inquiry by referring the case to the Public Accounts Committee of the assembly.
During the trial, the CBI further told the court that during the assembly debate two other legislators namely Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP and Nilambar Choudhary of the Congress had pointed out fraudulent withdrawals. But Lalu Prasad as CM and finance minister could not reply satisfactorily.
The CBI successfully proved that he as a CM and finance minister was aware of the excessive withdrawal that he allowed unchecked. The CBI also pointed out that on several occasions, legislators of the Bihar assembly had drawn his attention to the scam during the session of the house.
Lalu Prasad defended that neither the accountant general nor collectors of the district informed the government about this. His lawyer further said that he was part of any conspiracy. Lalu Prasad had further said that the budget of the Animal Husbandry Department was prepared at the departmental level and he did according to the rule.
But the CBI refuted his contention and said that Lalu Prasad was the main accused of this scam. The CBI said that in August 1990, the Bihar State Vigilance Bureau had lodged an FIR against AHD official RK Das, Raja Ram, and others but no inquiry was done. The CBI said that he ordered the inquiry in February 1996 only after the scam had surfaced.
The CBI pointed out that his own minister Ram Jeevan Singh heading the AHD had submitted a detailed note of the scam to him in August 1990 and demanded a CBI inquiry. The CBI said that Lalu Prasad instead of appreciating the minister rather removed him as minister of the AHD.
The CBI said that there was no reason to believe that Lalu Prasad was not aware of the scam. The agency said that in June 1994, Lalu Prasad had caught six forged allotment letters issued by the regional director of AHD of Dumka.
To prove the connivance of Lalu Prasad with the accused, the CBI said that the then senior AHD official BN Sharma in June 1993 was transferred from his post. BN Sharma was the person who had withdrawn Rs 50 lakh from the treasury on a single day. But Lalu Prasad cancelled his transfer order in connivance with the other accused.
The CBI said that he gave service extension to two key accused of fodder scam case RK Das and Shyam Bihari Sinha on the recommendation of the then leader of opposition Jagannath Mishra. He as a CM ignored the established practice and norms of the government and rejected the objection of the finance department over the proposal of service extension.
The CBI claimed that Lalu Prasad maintained a personal relationship with fodder scam accused like Dayanand Kashyap. He appointed Dayanand Kashyap as chairman of the 20th point programme with cabinet minister status. The CBI further said that another accused Md Syeed and RK Rana were local guardians of Lalu’s children and he accepted cash from the fodder scam accused.
