Only hidden agenda was to loot public money: Judge on fodder

High level politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen had connived together in the Rs 900 crore fodder scam with only one "hidden agenda" to loot public money, a special CBI Court said.
The court said this in its 475-page verdict in the conviction of former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad, Jagannath Mishra and 43 others in the fodder scam.
"High level politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen connived together and entered into a criminal conspiracy for fraudulent withdrawal of public money by way of forging several documents in virtually making a loot of public money with only one 'Hidden Agenda' of siphoning the public money from Govt.- Treasury by fraudulent withdrawal," Judge Pravas Kumar Singh said.

Observing that everyone had heard that God was omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, the judge said, "Now, we have seen that there is a constant and continuous attempt being made to replace the word God by the word corruption."
The verdict said these cases related to a series of orchestrated fraudulent acts by which a staggeringly huge amount of public money was plundered after creating fake bills and other false documents, with the active participation or connivance of several high ups in the state administration and succeeded in "draining out Rs 900 crores and odd".
Stating that day-in and day-out sermons were preached listing out the evils of corruption and slogans with catch-words against the corruption, the judge said there were positive and constructive remedial measures and steps taken for its eradication by the agency concerned.

"We have also seen that there is a constant debate throughout the Globe regarding the magnitude and multi-dimensional causes of corruption," he said.
"But even then, omnipresent corruption with its tentacles poses a great threat to the welfare of the society and grows in menacing proportion."
The judge said, "An impression is also created by and large that corruption is an inevitable evil. It has been noticed in most of the corruption cases that flouting of the rules in disastrous manner have opened the windows for practicing corruption.