Big trouble for Lalu


Patna: In big trouble for former Bihar chief minister and RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Central Bureau of Investigation has challenged in the Supreme Court the bail given to him in cases linked to the alleged fodder scam.

The top court is set to take up the CBI’s petition on August 25. The Rashtriya Janata Dal chief had been granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court in at least four cases and all the orders have been challenged by the CBI. He was convicted in the cases and his appeals are pending in various courts.

The CBI has now challenged the orders of the Jharkhand High Court granting bail to RJD president Lalu Prasad in four cases relating to multi-crore fodder scam (Dumka, Chaibasa, Doranda, Deogarh treasuries). The RJD chief was convicted in the cases and his appeals are pending in various courts. A special CBI court had held Lalu Prasad Yadav guilty in the Doranda treasury case related to the fodder scam in February this year.

The fodder scam refers to illegal withdrawals worth Rs 950 crore from various government treasuries for fictitious expenditure on fodder and other requirements for cattle during Lalu Prasad Yadav’s term as Bihar chief minister. Of the 99 accused in the Doranda treasury case, 24 were acquitted while three-year jail terms were pronounced for 46 accused last week itself.

Lalu Prasad Yadav, 74, was earlier sentenced to 14 years in jail in four other cases related to Dumka, Deoghar and Chaibasa treasuries in Jharkhand.

The RJD chief and his family are also under the scanner in the land-for-job scam. Earlier this month, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached assets over worth Rs 6 crore of many people linked to the former Bihar Chief Minister in connection with the case.

The ED attached six immovable assets having a book value of Rs 6.02 crore belonging to Rabri Devi, Misha Bharti (daughter of Lalu Yadav), Vineet Yadav (husband of Hema Yadav who is the daughter of Lalu Yadav), Shiv Kumar Yadav (father-in-law of Hema Yadav).