By Ashna Patil
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav was sentenced on Saturday by a special CBI court for the 4th fodder scam case pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 3.13 crore from Dumka treasury in the early 1990s. Judge Shiv Pal Singh sentenced him under two provisions- Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Acts, for seven years each, totalling fourteen years, and fined 60 lakh rupees. This is the maximum punishment that Prasad has received in the four fodder scam cases so far. He was convicted and awarded five years in prison for the first fodder scam in 2013. The sentence disqualified him from the parliament and barred him from elections for 11 years, but he was granted bail by the Supreme Court on December 13.
The matter could have been stopped at an early stage, (but) instead of taking concrete steps Shri Lalu Prasad kept justifying the action and inaction of the AHD officials and other bureaucrats and thereby aided and abetted the offence, said Shivpal Singh said Lalus insistence that it was him who had lodged the FIRs in the first place was completely overlooked, as officials stated his intentions had already been clear by then. The verdict came as Lalu was admitted to Rajendra Institute of Medical Science on Saturday after complaining about constipation. He is currently is lodged in the Birsa Munda jail in Ranchi, serving 13.5 years for the previous three fodder scams.
Use of animal husbandry to launder money
The main fodder scam followed the Bihar Veterinary Associations first attempt to expose the Animal Husbandry Mafia in 1985. Lalu was the then CM of Bihar, where V. S. Dubey, finance commissioner, stumbled upon the financial irregularities of a massive scale. In January 1996, he started delving into cases of excessive withdrawals, aided by district magisters and deputy commissioners to all districts. An enquiry was then made of the excessive withdrawals of money from the Ranchi treasury by the Animal Husbandry department, which revealed theft of government money drawn by forged documents. A raid of offices of the animal husbandry department in the town of Chaibasa revealed documents which conclusively indicated large-scale embezzlement by an organised mafia of officials and business people, especially the Bihar government. The scam continues to hold a prominent position in the current political landscape due to the extensive nexus between bureaucrats, politicians and businessmen that it revealed, in addition to the magnitude and duration of the theft. It has also served as an example of the Mafia Raj that has penetrated several state-run economic sectors in the country.
The mafia nexus that benefited Yadav
Almost as soon as the CBI began its investigations, it filed a submission the High Court stating Bihar officials and legislators were blocking access to documents that could reveal the existence of a politician-official-business mafia nexus at work. As the investigation proceeded, the CBI unearthed linkages to Lalu and, on 10 May 1997, made a formal request to the Governor of Bihar to prosecute Yadav. An Income Tax Investigation also blamed him for the scam. Lalu was given a jail sentence of five years and was sentenced again on 23 December 2017. In 1998, a disproportionate assets case arising out of fodder scam was registered against Yadav and Rabri Devi, to which both surrendered in 2000. The second fodder scam pertained to the 1996 case of 89.27 lakh scammed from Deoghar treasury, for which he was awarded 3.5 years. The third Fodder Scam involved 35.62 crores embezzled from Chaibasa treasury, which added five years to his sentence.
Yadav rule and crimes
Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabdi Devi ruled Bihar for 15 years despite several ongoing corruption cases against him, a period during which every economic and social ranking of the state were considerably lower than other states of India. During this time, Bihar’s law and order were at its lowest, with private armies mushrooming and kidnapping burgeoning. Amongst one of the first prominent politicians to lose the parliamentary seat on being arrested in the fodder scam due to the Supreme Court decision banning convicted legislators to hold their posts, this newer, greater sentence for Yadav carries ramifications beyond the usual: it serves as a harsh deterrent for future wrongdoers.
It is vital for the law to establish a precedent that being in a position of authority, malpractice will not be tolerated and shall have repercussions. With this ruling, it has come close, though the acquittal of Jagannath Singh leaves more to be desired. Several other accused in the case, including Dhurv Bhagat, Jagdish Sharma, R K Rana and Vidya Sagar Nishadas well as two IAS officials, Beck Julius and Mahesh Prasad have also been acquitted. In a country with rampant corruption, strict sentencing of one of the prominent politicians sends a desirable message, even if it took sixteen years to do so.
Yadavs lawyer, Prabhat Kumar expressed, This is too harsh a punishment, and we were not expecting it. But we respect the judgment and will approach the Jharkhand High Court after going through the order in detail. The Jharkhand High court, however, has not been kind to Lalu. The petitions for bail in the Chaibasa and Deoghar treasury cases were rejected. In fact, his troubles seem to be on the rise, a separate fodder scam case is currently being heard that pertains to the fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 179 crore from Doranda treasury in Ranchi, and a case is ongoing in Bhagalpur as well.