Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Friday (March 28, 2025) said that the State Government will approach the court to get back its ₹950 crore misappropriated through the fodder scam in which RJD chief and former Chief Minister Lalu Prasad was convicted.
Mr. Choudhary, who also holds the finance portfolio, said the Government will speak to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Income Tax department so that Bihar’s money could be brought back to its treasury.
He asserted that legal action will be taken by confiscating the properties of people involved in the fodder scam.
“This is the decision of the court and action will be taken on that basis, whether it is Lalu Prasad or anyone else. Whoever was involved in the fodder scam, their properties will be confiscated, and the money will be deposited in the Government treasury,” Mr. Choudhary said in Patna while speaking to the media.
He added, “The court has already sentenced the culprits in this scam, and an order has also been given to confiscate the property. Now 29 years have passed, and the Supreme Court has also given the punishment. As per the court’s order, the property will be confiscated, and the Government’s money will be recovered.”
The fodder scam, popularly known as chaara ghotala, deals with the case related to siphoning off of money from the treasury meant for the Animal Husbandry department in 1995-1996 to the tune of around ₹950 crore.
In all, the CBI had examined 575 witnesses in the case and filed a chargesheet against 170 people. Mr. Prasad was named as an accused in the case for the first time in the chargesheet submitted by the CBI in June 1997. The CBI trial began in February 2002, and Mr. Prasad’s first conviction came in September 2013 in the Chaibasa treasury case related to the fraudulent withdrawal of ₹37.70 crore.
The fodder scam came to light in 1996 when Mr. Prasad was the Chief Minister. He faced a total of five cases, and the last sentence was in February 2022, in which he was sentenced to five years of imprisonment for embezzlement of over ₹139 crore in the Doranda treasury case.
When the CBI filed a chargesheet in 1997, Mr. Prasad resigned and made his wife Rabri Devi the State’s Chief Minister.
Another BJP leader and Minister in the Government, Nitin Nabin said, “Whoever has cheated the poor people of their money, the Government will definitely take possession of that property under the ambit of the law.”
Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha said the process of confiscating the money from Mr. Prasad should have started long ago. “By not confiscating the money looted by the corrupt people is like increasing their morale. The action should have been taken long back so that people can learn lessons and dare not to engage in corrupt practices. His property should be confiscated through speedy trials in the court,” Mr. Sinha said.
Published – March 29, 2025 08:54 am IST
