Former Bihar CMs Lalu, Mishra chargesheeted in fodder scam case

Patna, March 1 (ANI): Former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad Yadav and Jagannath Mishra were chargesheeted by a CBI court here on Thursday in connection with the 1996 multi-crore animal fodder scam.

The court also framed charges against Ruling Janata Dal (United) MP Jagdish Sharma and former RJD MP RK Rana in connection with the case.

In the first week of February, the special CBI court had rejected Prasad's plea to allow cross-examination of witnesses of the prosecution and asked him to appear before it.

The fodder scam also known as the "Chara Ghotala" was a corruption scandal that involved the alleged embezzlement of about Rs. 950 crore from a Bihar Government treasury.

The alleged theft spanned many years, and was engaged in by many Bihar state government administrative and elected officials across multiple administrations, and involved the fabrication of "vast herds of fictitious livestock" for which fodder, medicines and animal husbandry equipment was supposedly procured.

The fodder scam was unearthed in Bihar in 1996 when Lalu Prasad was Bihar's chief minister.He had to resign from the post in 1997 after a court issued an arrest warrant against him in connection with one of the cases. His wife Rabri Devi then took over as the state's chief minister. (ANI)