Supreme Court restrains Jharkhand court from delivering judgment in fodder case

The Supreme Court today restrained a Jharkhand court from delivering the judgment in fodder scam case involving former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.

The direction comes after the Jharkhand High Court on July 1 dismissed a petition filed by the RJD chief seeking transfer of a fodder scam case from a CBI court. The verdict in the case was to be pronounced on July 15.

The RJD supremo had filed the petition requesting transfer of case to another special CBI court, saying that he did not expect justice from the present special CBI judge Pravas Kumar Singh as he had relationship with two Bihar-based JD(U) leaders, who are Lalu Yadav's political opponents .

Yadav is one of the 46 accused persons in the fodder scam case, pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs. 377 million from Chaibasa Treasury in Singhbhum district of Bihar between 1992 and 1995.

The fodder scam also known as "Chara Ghotala" involved the alleged embezzlement of about Rs. 9.5 billion from a Bihar Government treasury.

The alleged theft spanned many years, and many Bihar state government administrative and elected officials across multiple administrations were engaged in it, and were involved in the fabrication of "vast herds of fictitious livestock" for which fodder, medicines and animal husbandry equipment was supposedly procured.

The fodder scam was unearthed in Bihar in 1996 when Lalu Prasad was the Chief Minister of the state. He had resigned from the post in 1997 after a court issued an arrest warrant against him in connection with one of the cases.