In a significant development in the infamous fodder scam, the supreme court has reserved the order on transferring the case (RC 20 A/96) from the special judge of the CBI court at Ranchi following an effective and persuasive intervention by senior advocate Shanti Bhushan on behalf of the original plaintiff, Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan.
 
The three-member bench headed by chief justice P Sathasivam had indicated during the hearing on July 23 that a decision would be taken on transferring the case from the special judge after the main accused and former Bihar chief minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav , raised doubts about the impartiality of the judge. The intervention application filed by Lallan opposed Lalu Yadav’s contention on factual grounds and cautioned the apex court about dilatory tactics adopted by him to delay the justice.
 
In today’s deposition, Shanti Bhushan pointed out that the manner in which Lalu Yadav had been misusing legal methods to delay the judicial process was illustrative of vulnerability of the judicial system against a powerful politician. He particularly referred to the intriguing silence adopted by Lalu Yadav for all these 17 years and raising a doubt when the verdict on the case was about to be delivered. Bhushan’s forceful argument ran counter to the plea from Lalu Yadav’s advocate Ram Jethmalani who raised doubts about fairness and neutrality of the trial.

ALSO READ: Mr Lalu Prasad at his wily worst in fodder scam
 
Though the SC has reserved the order, it would be in order to have a look at the series of revelations which prove it beyond an iota of doubt that Lalu Yadav was indeed the mastermind of the scam and tried to shield the accused and derail the investigation at every at every step using means fair and foul. In my own research, I have come across various such events which enabled me to trace the history of the scam and explain them as under in sequential order:

1. In 1985 Nawal Kishor Shah, MLA, filed a petition before the then speaker of Bihar legislative assembly about the financial irregularities in the animal husbandry department (AHD) and alleged that that a bungling of Rs 50 crore had been committed by some officials in the purchase of medicines and fodder. The petition committee of the assembly made elaborate enquiry in this petition no. 1160/85 and reported that three IAS officers, 19 AHD officers including kingpin SB Sinha, a Lalu confidant, and 15 suppliers were guilty for the bungling. Lalu Prasad was also MLA at that time. No action was taken on the enquiry report.

2. On 29.6.1989, Sonadhari Singh, MLA, wrote to the then govt. about gross financial irregularities in the AHD. The state govt. ordered a vigilance enquiry. Kumud Chaudhary, SP, vigilance, made the enquiry. Lalu Prasad became CM by the time enquiry report was filed. The matter was suppressed.

3. On 5.4.1990 the then deputy accountant general, PS Aiyar, in a communication to the regional development commissioner (RDC), Ranchi, MC Subarno, warned about huge fraudulent excess withdrawal from treasuries and informed that the vehicles on which, cows, buffaloes etc. had been shown to be transported were actually found to be scooters and autos after enquiry. He also informed about fake purchases of medicines and folders. The RDC forwarded it to the state govt. but no action was taken by the Lalu govt.

4. On 18.8.1990 Ram Jiwan Singh, a minister in the govt., wrote to CM Lalu Prasad seeking a CBI enquiry into AHD bungling. Lalu ordered a vigilance enquiry on the file. Meanwhile, former CM Jagannath Mishra wrote a letter to him that concerned officials might be victimised in the vigilance enquiry, hence the allegations should be enquired by the development commissioner. Lalu agreed but enquiry was never done.

5. On 21.6.1990 Rameshwar Prasad, MLA, filed a complaint before the vigilance dept. and asked for enquiry in the financial irregularities in AHD. Vigilance case no. SR 34/90 was instituted. But the enquiry was stopped. Records surfaced when CBI seized the documents after the high court order to enquire into the fodder scam in 1996. It was made a part of case no. RC 47/96 by the CBI in which a fraudulent withdrawal of Rs. 180 crore from the Chaibasa treasury came to light.

6. On 18.3.1991 KN Pathak and SP Singh, both MLCs, alleged through a call attention motion before the Bihar legislative council that according to a report sent by the deputy commissioner, Ranchi, Rs. 20 crore was seized by income tax officials in a raid on the residences of AHD officers at Ranchi and asked what action was taken by the state govt against them. Mr Vidhan Sagar Nishad, AHD minister, replied in negative and said that the govt. had no knowledge about it though the matter was widely published in local dailies.

7. On 29.3.1992 I-T officers raided the residences of AHD officers at Ranchi and unearthed a huge amount of black money. The news was published widely in newspapers of Ranchi and Patna, and the I-T officers reported it to the state govt too, but the Lalu Prasad govt. did not take any notice of it.

8. On 29.5.1992 VB Dwivedi, inspector, vigilance, posted at Ranchi, wrote a letter to the DGP, Bihar, narrating the details of illegal money seized during the I-T raid on AHD officials’ premises at Ranchi. The DIG and the SP found his report true after enquiry but no action was taken. Later Dwivedi was harassed and mentally tortured by the superiors in the vigilance dept.

9. Again on 1.2.1993 I-T investigation wing officials after an informer report stopped an Indian Airlines plan on the runway at Ranchi airport and seized Rs 3 crore and gold/diamond jewellery from the baggage of an AHD official and a supplier. They submitted a report to its director PP Lakkar at Kanpur headquarters. He in turn reported it to the state govt. but the report was thrown into the dustbin.

10. On 13.4.1993 Lalu Prasad appointed an AHD scam accused, Daya Nand Kashyap, as vice chairman of the Ranchi district 20-point programme implementation committee. Appointment was made to appease the AHD mafia in power sharing.

11. On 4.6.1993 SK Modi, MLA, raised a question in the assembly about fake withdrawal of Rs. 1,300 crore by AH mafia from treasuries. Lalu Prasad assured on the floor of the house that he would get the matter probed. On the demand of a CBI enquiry he retorted that why only CBI, he would get the matter probed by the UN!

12. On 7.6.1993 a meeting of all district magistrates and collectors was held at Ranchi to assess the financial crisis and regulate the excess withdrawals from some treasury. The DC of West Singhbhum pointed out deliberate excess withdrawal of fraudulent nature from Chaibasa treasury under AHD heads by the then district animal husbandry director BN Sharma. Lalu Praasad was present in the meeting. No action was taken on the complaint.

13. On 27.7.1993 the CVC, govt of India, forwarded a complain petition of Ram Sharan Yadav, MP, carrying supportive documents to the chief secretary of Bihar. Mr Chandradeo Verma, AHD minister under CM Lalu Prasad, saw the petition on 11.12.1993 but no action was taken.

14. In October 1993 employees leader Om Prakash Mehta and Om Prakash Singh submitted a ‘charge sheet’ containing serious allegations of corruption in AHD to the departmental secretary but no action was taken.

15. On 8.7.1993 CP Shahi Munda put a question in the council about huge dubious withdrawal by AHD officers and sought CBI investigation into it. The govt replied on 18.7.1993 that relevant file was with the AG, hence it was not possible to reply to this question. The reply was prepared by the director, treasury, and approved by a member of the Lalu Prasad cabinet sub-committee Jagadanand Singh.

16. On 29.6.1994 a three-member enquiry team headed by Sheobalak Chaudhary found the Deoghar district AHD director Sheesh Muni Ram guilty of excess fraudulent withdrawal. The then DC, Deoghar, Sukhdeo Singh, also reported the scam to the govt. but no action was taken.

17. On 15.7.1994 the Times of India Patna edition published a news item about serous financial bungling of about 50 crore. The news item was based on an enquiry committee report of Sheobalak Chaudhary, a senior officer in AH directorate. A number of letters in this regard were exchanged between Tulsi Singh, chairman of the cabinet sub-committee and SN Sinha, the then finance commissioner of Bihar but the matter was shelved.

18. On 18.7.1994 the chairman of cabinet sub-committee, Tulasi Singh, called for the file related to the enquiry committee report of the three-member committee headed by Sheobalak Chaudhary. The file surfaced only when CBI started investigating the AHD scam in 1996.

19. In March 1995 Nilambar Chaudhary, MLC, asked a question in the council that on one hand the state govt was facing a financial crisis and on the other hand AHD was fraudulently withdrawing far more money than sanctioned in the budget. He called for stringent action guilty persons. Departmental secretary Beck Julius in his answer said that the information was true but Bhola Ram Tufani, AHD minister, said that it was not true.

20. On 30.5.1995 BJP MP Lalit Oraon asked a starred question the Lok Sabha about the misuse of central funds meant for weaker sections by the AHD mafia in Bihar. The question was forwarded to the Bihar govt. for comment and it replied that there was no mafia in AHD and the question of corruption and misuse of fund did not arise.

21. On 4.8.1995 question no. 634 was asked in the Rajya Sabha by KM Magrora and GH Singh. The Bihar govt. Replied that there was no irregularity in AHD was circulated to members.

22. On 27.9.1995 the vigilance department received an order from the CGM, Patna court, to probe AHD mafia activities. One Dr. Surjit Singh, chairperson of Bhrashtachar Virodhi Samiti, lodged complaint no.22/1995 before chief judicial magistrate praying for probe against AHD mafia. The order was never complied. Probe was not done.

23.  On 14.10.95 the deputy secretary, AHD, prepared an enquiry report against the AHD mafia activities. The report was okayed by departmental secretary Mahesh Prasad and forwarded to the minister for suitable action. But the minister in the Lalu cabinet suppressed the file and
 no action was taken.

24. On 21.12.1995 Mr. Udaykumar Narayan Rai, MLA, asked an assembly question about Rs. 232 crore excess withdrawal by AHD officials from different treasuries in Bihar. The Lalu Prasad govt preferred not to reply the question and kept mum in the assembly.

25. On 2.8.1996, after the scam was blown off, Umesh Singh, the then section officer in vigilance bureau, wrote several letters to Lalu Prasad from jail in which he narrated how he (Lalu Prasad) was involved in the fodder scam, what type of close relationship he had developed with AHD mafia and never took action when he was informed about excess fraudulent withdrawal in AHD by people like Umesh Singh and others.

Besides the above mentioned facts there is a lot of other evidence to show that Lalu Prasad was patronising AHD mafia group interests even when he was an MLA and leader of opposition. He wrote a number of letters to the then chief ministers Satyendra Narayan Sinha and Jagannath Mishra on 1.8.1988, 23.6.1998, 23.9.1998, 1.1.1988 etc. and asked them to appoint Dr. Ram Raj Ram as animal husbandry director though Dr. RS Sharma was the senior most deserving the post. Dr. Ram Raj Ram was a nominee of the AHD mafia whereas Dr. Sharma was honest and competent. Ultimately Dr. Ram was made director when Lalu Prasad became CM in 1990.

Lalu's closeness to the AHD mafia was personal – to the extent that when one of his daughters took admission in bishop Westcott School at Ranchi Dr. R K Rana took responsibility of her as local guardian.

A telephone, with the number 0651-502551, was installed at the residence of Dr. Shyam Bihari Sinha, the ringleader of AHD mafia. Frequent phone calls used to be made from this number to a telephone (0612-224129) at the CM’s official residence. The phone with no. 0651-502551 was installed at the residence of SB Sinha on a written application made by one Ravi Mehta, a nephew of AHD accused Dipesh Chandak.

Now when the special judge of the CBI court at Ranchi has fixed the date for pronouncement of judgement in case no RC 20 A/96, Lalu Prasad is crying foul that the judge may punish him. He knows well that it is impossible for him to escape the harsh punishment in this case and no judge will dare to give him relief because other politicians like ex ministers, ex MPs, ex MLAs, ex secretaries and other concerned -- against whom charges were far less grave and who all were playing their role at the instance of Lalu Prasad as kingpin -- have been punished with imprisonment of not less than five years along with fines up to Rs 10 lakh.

So, he is leaving no stone unturned and using all fair and unfair means to delay the trial as much as he can. He is very skilfully guided by famous legal luminaries of the country in his venture to take judicial process a ride to serve his unholy design.

Roy, a veteran BJP leader, is a former member of the Jharkhand assembly.