Thaindian News

Following are some key facts related to the multi-crore rupee fodder scam that surfaced in the early 1990s in undivided Bihar:

* The scam involved embezzlement of funds of the animal husbandry department in undivided Bihar that were meant for purchasing cattle fodder.

* The Patna High Court in 1996, while hearing a public interest litigation, handed over the probe in the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The Jharkhand High Court monitored the case later.

* The CBI filed a total of 61 cases over the embezzlement.

* According to the CBI, the scam involved nearly Rs.650 crore.

* Out of the 61 cases linked to the scam, 53 cases were transferred to Jharkhand after it was carved out of Bihar in 2000.

* CBI special courts in Ranchi have passed judgments in 39 cases.

* Two former Bihar chief ministers, Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra, are accused in five cases being tried in Ranchi. They were sent to jail four times in different cases.

* Lalu Prasad had to quit as Bihar chief minister in 1997 after he was made an accused in a case and an arrest warrant was issued against him.

* Four Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officials were booked in the scam.

* Sajjal Chakravarty, a suspended IAS official of Jharkhand cadre, was awarded four years’ imprisonment in 2010. He is now out of jail on bail.

* Two disproportionate assets cases, offshoots of the fodder scam, were also filed in Bihar against Lalu Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi.