In Big Trouble For Lalu Yadav, CBI Challenges Bail In Fodder Scam Cases

Fodder Scam Case: 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.

New Delhi: 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. 

Supreme Court agrees to list a plea of CBI challenging the bail granted by Jharkhand High Court to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam case

CBI mentions before the Supreme Court seeking urgent listing of its plea to cancel the bail of Lalu… — ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2023

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.

Land-For-Job Scam

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).

The agency further said that it has also seized the assets of AB Exports Pvt Ltd and AK Infosystem Pvt Ltd., both companies owned and controlled by family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav under the provisions of PMLA, 2002 in the railway job for land scam. The ED started an investigation under PMLA, 2002 based on FIR registered by the CBI against the Ex-Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi and others.

The investigation by ED revealed that the family members of candidates gifted/sold land (at cheap rates/lesser than the circle rate) to family members of Lalu Yadav and associated companies in lieu of a job which was given in a malafide manner with undue haste and in violation of extant law and procedure. 

This criminal conspiracy to abuse his official position for the sake of seeking bribes led to the accretion of the land parcels by his family members at Mahuabagh (Danapur) and Bihta, Patna, in such a manner so as to consolidate the land holdings already in their possession.

Earlier in this case, searches were also conducted at 24 locations by ED at various places in Delhi NCR, Patna, Mumbai and Ranchi including residences of Hema Yadav, Ragini Lalu, Chanda Yadav and residential and commercial premises of  Amit Katyal,  Navdeep Sardana, Abu Dojana and Suman Nayak.

Searches resulted in the recovery of unaccounted cash of Rs 1 crore, foreign currency including USD 1900, 540 gms gold bullion and more than 1.5 kg of gold jewellery (worth Rs 1.25 Crore approximately) and several other incriminating documents indicating illegal accretion of the huge land bank.

Investigation under PMLA revealed that Rabri Devi and Hema Yadav sold four land parcels illegally acquired from appointees in railway to Meridian Construction India Ltd., a company related to Syed Abu Dojana, Ex-MLA of RJD and the proceeds of crime so obtained by Rabri Devi and Hema Yadav were further transferred through a maze of transactions to AB Exports Pvt Ltd and Bhagirathi Tubes respectively.

“A total of 6 immovable properties situated at New Delhi, Ghaziabad and Patna being proceeds of crime, have been provisionally attached under PMLA, 2002. The properties attached include the residential premise situated at D-1088, New Friends Colony, New Delhi owned by AB Exports Pvt Ltd. Two land parcels situated at Mahuabagh (Danapur), Patna of which one each is owned by Rabri Devi and AK Infosystems Pvt Ltd have also been attached. Further, one land parcel owned by Misa Bharti has been attached at Bihta, Patna,” the agency said in a statement.

Apart from this, a portion of two industrial plots, one plot each registered in the names of Vineet Yadav, husband of Hema Yadav and her father-in-law, situated in Ghaziabad have also been provisionally attached. 

(With Agency Inputs)