Lalu Yadav to face fresh charges in fodder scam

SC VERDICT Ruling may weaken RJD in Bihar where party is in an alliance with Nitish’s JDU

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court reinstated on Monday criminal conspiracy charges against Lalu Prasad in a fodder scam case, and said that the former Bihar chief minister will be tried in the cases against him.

The ruling came on an appeal by the Central Bureau of Investigation against a 2014 order from the Jharkhand high court that said Prasad could not be tried for the same crime twice, referring to his previous conviction that also led to his disqualification from Parliament and earned him a ban from contesting elections.

The top court said on Monday the HC should have been consistent in its findings and should not have given different views for different sets of accused in a case. It also pulled up the CBI for being late in filing its appeal.

Monday’s ruling is likely to weaken Lalu’s position in Bihar, where his Rashtriya Janata Dal is in an alliance with chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) and his two sons are ministers.

While a political fallout may not be immediate, the cases are likely to strain the alliance before the next Assembly elections in 2020.

Prasad was among 45 convicted in 2013 for fraudulent withdrawals from the Chaibasa treasury. The fraud was part of a racket to bleed more than Rs 900 crore from the exchequer by showing spends for fictitious medicines and fodder for cattle. The conviction earned Prasad a 5-year sentence, and he spent time in prison briefly before being given bail by the top court.

Monday’s ruling gives his rivals, particularly the BJP, ammunition to target him again. Lalu and family have recently been under fire for acquiring a mall in Patna through front companies.

Hailing the SC order, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said the verdict means the “end of the road” for the RJD chief in politics.

“It’s the end of the road in politics for Lalu Prasad as he is sure to be convicted in three other cases of fodder scam and would be debarred from electoral politics for many more years,” he told reporters.

Politically, the ruling has given advantage to chief minister Nitish Kumar, he said. “...as a weak Lalu forced to kneel down by the court order will not be able to trouble the (ruling) Grand Alliance much.

”“Now, for nine months, Lalu Prasad would have no other work but to run to courts in four cases related to the fodder scam,” Modi said.

Sushil Modi was one of the early petitioners in the scam.

The case in which the top court gave its judgement on Monday pertains to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 96 lakh during the RJD chief’s chief ministerial tenure.

The fodder scam came to light in 1996.

It’s the end of the road in politics for Lalu Prasad as he is sure to be convicted in three other cases of fodder scam and would be debarred from electoral politics for many more years

SUSHIL KUMAR MODI, Bihar BJP chief