Lalu Prasad Yadav held guilty; Timeline of Fodder Scam

Ranchi: Former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad was on Saturday convicted in a fodder scam case by a special CBI court here.

Former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra as well as six others were acquitted in the case.

Here is the timeline of infamous Fodder Scam:

January 1996: The scam surfaces after Deputy Commissioner Amit Khare raids the offices of the Animal Husbandry Department. Several important documents that showed guzzling of funds by non-existent companies in the name of supplying fodder were seized.

March 11, 1996: Patna High Court directed the CBI to probe the scam. The Supreme Court upholds the order.

March 27, 1996: The CBI registers an FIR in the Chaibasa Treasury case.

June 23, 1997: CBI files a charge sheet and makes Mr. Prasad and 55 others as accused in the case. 63 cases were registered under IPC Sections 420 (forgery) and 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy) and Section 13 (b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

July 30, 1997: Prasad surrenders before a CBI court and sent to judicial custody.

April 5, 2000: Charges framed before the special CBI court. Rabri Devi, who was a co-accused, was granted bail. Mr. Prasad's bail plea rejected and he was remanded in judicial custody.

October 5, 2001: SC transfers the scam cases to Jharkhand after the creation of the new State.

February 2002: Trial begins in the Ranchi special CBI court.

December 2006: Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi acquitted of charges in the disproportionate assets case filed by the CBI

June 2007: The special CBI court in Ranchi sentences 58 persons, including two nephews Lalu Prasad, to jail terms ranging from two-and-a-half years to six years for fraudulently withdrawing Rs. 48 crore from the Chaibasa Treasury in the 1990s.

March 2012: Six months after their appearance before the Special CBI court, charges are framed against Prasad and Mishra. The court charges the former with fraudulent withdrawal of Rs. 47 lakh from the treasuries at Banka and Bhagalpur districts, where alleged forged and fake bills were drawn by the Animal Husbandry Department in 1995-96 when he was the Chief Minister.

May 17, 2012: The special CBI court framed charges against Lalu Prasad in another fodder scam case.

September 17, 2013: Special court in Ranchi reserved its verdict in the fodder case.

September 30, 2013: Special CBI Judge PK Singh pronounced the judgment in the case No. RC 20 A/96. He convicted all the 45 accused, including Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra, in the scam. The court will pronounce the sentencing on October 3.

November 2013: CBI informed the Jharkhand High Court that it did not find any evidence against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and JD-U leader Shivanand Tiwari in the Rs 950 crore fodder scam.

November 25, 2013: Lalu moves Supreme Court for bail

December 13, 2013: The Supreme Court grants bail to Lalu Prasad, in a relief to the politician who is behind the bars for the last two months after being awarded a five-year jail term.

December 16, 2013: Lalu Prasad released from jail after he completed the bail formalities in a Special CBI court here as directed by the Supreme Court. Hundreds of RJD supporters greeted him on his release.

December 23, 2017: Special CBI Court held Lalu guilty in fodder scam case. The quantum of sentence will be announced on January 3.