Fodder Scam case: Here's a timeline of the events

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has been convicted in the fifth fodder scam case by a CBI Special Court in Ranchi. He is now been convicted in all five cases related to the infamous ₹ 950 crore fodder scam cases.

Here's a timeline of the events:

1. January 1996: The scam surfaces after Deputy Commissioner Amit Khare raids the offices of the Animal Husbandry Department and seizes documents that showed siphoning of funds by non-existent companies in the name of supplying fodder.
2. March 11, 1996: The Patna High Court directs the CBI to probe the scam. The Supreme Court upholds the order.
3. March 27, 1996: The CBI registers an FIR in the Chaibasa Treasury case.
4. June 23, 1997: The CBI files a charge sheet and makes Lalu Prasad and 55 others as accused in the case. Sixty-three cases were registered under IPC Sections 420 (forgery) and 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy) and Section 13 (b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
5. July 30, 1997:Prasad surrenders before a CBI court and is sent to judicial custody.
6. April 5, 2000:Charges framed before the special CBI court. Rabri Devi's name is included as co-accused. She was granted bail, Prasad's bail plea was rejected and he was remanded in judicial custody.
7. April 10, 2001:The Supreme Court transfers the scam cases to Jharkhand after the creation of the new State.
8. February 2002: Trial begins in the Ranchi special CBI court.
9. December 2006: Prasad and Rabri Devi acquitted of charges in the disproportionate assets case filed by the CBI.
10. June 2007: The special CBI court in Ranchi sentences 58 persons, including two nephews of Railway Minister 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.
11. March 2012: Six months after their appearance before the Special CBI court, charges are framed against Prasad and Jagannath 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.
12. August 13, 2013: The Supreme Court rejects Prasad's plea seeking the transfer of the trial court judge hearing the case.
13. September 17, 2013: The Special CBI court reserves its judgment.
14. September 30, 2013: Prasad and Mishra, along with 45 others are convicted by Special CBI Judge Pravas Kumar Singh. Prasad stands disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha following the verdict. The two cannot contest any election, including those of the Assembly/Council, for six years from the date of their release from jail.
15. November 2014:The CBI challenges the order of the Jharkhand High Court quashing four pending fodder scam cases against Prasad on the grounds that a person convicted in one case could not be tried in similar cases based on the same witnesses and evidence. The court upholds the CBI plea to continue proceedings in the trial court against Prasad under two sections.
16. November 2016: The Supreme Court pulls up Mishra for allegedly dragging and delaying the appeal filed by the CBI challenging the quashing of four pending fodder scam cases against him.
17. May 2017: The Supreme Court holds that Prasad and other accused persons, including Jagannath Mishra, will be tried separately for corruption in a criminal case involving the withdrawal of Rs 84.53 lakh and falsification of records from the Deoghar Treasury in 1991-94.
18. December 23, 2017: A special CBI court in Ranchi pronounced Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav guilty in the Rs 950 crore fodder scam case.
19. January 6, 2018: Lalu Yadav was sentenced to 3.5 years in jail by a special court in Ranchi.
20. March 16, 2018: CBI special court defers judgment in the fourth case of multi-crore fodder scam against Lalu.
21. March 19, 2018:A court in Ranchi convicts Lalu in the fourth case linked to the fodder scam. However, his predecessor Jagannath Mishra is acquitted.
22. March 24, 2018: A Ranchi court sentences Lalu to 14 years in jail in the fourth case linked to the fodder scam. He is also fined Rs 60 lakh.
23. April 2019: Supreme Court dismisses the RJD chief’s bail petition. CBI had opposed the bail plea, claiming that Lalu may involve in political activities during the Lok Sabha polls if he is granted bail.
24. July 2019: Jharkhand High Court grants bail to Lalu in the fodder scam case related to the Deoghar treasury.
25. October 2020: Jharkhand High Court grants bail to Lalu in the fodder scam case related to the Chaibasa treasury.
26. December 2020: High Court defers Lalu’s bail pleahearing by six weeks following a request from his lawyer.
27. January 2021: Lalu was admitted to AIIMS after his health condition deteriorates.
28. February 2021: High Court rejects Lalu’s bail plea in the Dumka treasury case. HC says the RJD supremo has to serve two more months in jail to complete half of the tenure of his total sentence and can reapply for bail after that.
29. April 17, 2021:Jharkhand High Court grants bail to Lalu Prasad Yadav in a Dumka treasury case linked to the fodder scam.
30. February 15, 2022: A special CBI court in Ranchi held RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav guilty in the ₹139.35 crore Doranda treasury embezzlement case.