Lalu Yadav Prasad convicted: A timeline of events in Bihar fodder scam case

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav (Express file photo)

Former Bihar chief minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was found guilty in the 1996 fodder scam case. The verdict came from a special CBI court after over two decades of investigations and proceedings. Following the verdict, the RJD chief was taken into custody and sent to Birsa Munda prison in Ranchi.

The court acquitted six people including former CM Jagannath Mishra in the case and found 16 others guilty in the case. The court will read the quantum of punishment in the case on January 3, 2018. The case was first unearthed in 1996 after Deputy Commissioner of Chaibasa, Amit Khare, raided the Animal Husbandry Department.

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Here is the timeline of the fodder scam case:

January 1996: The scam came into light after a raid conducted by the Deputy Commissioner of Chaibasa, Amit Khare at the Animal Husbandry Department.

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March 1996: CBI was roped in by the Patna High Court after increasing pressure to investigate the case. The CBI registered an FIR in the case at the time when both Bihar and Jharkhand were a unified state.

June 1997: Lalu Prasad Yadav was named an accused in the case for the first time in the chargesheet filed by the CBI.

July 1997: Following the chargesheet and mounting pressure from the opposition, Lalu resigned as the Chief Minister and anointed his wife Rabri Devi to the top post.

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July 1997: Following the resignation, Lalu surrendered in front of the CBI court and was sent to judicial custody.

April 2000: As the investigation progressed, Rabri too was named in the case. However, she was granted bail by the court.

October 2001: Following the bifurcation of Bihar and formation of a new state, Jharkhand, the case was transferred to the Jharkhand High Court.

Lalu surrendered in front of the CBI court for the first time in 1997. (Express photo by Dilip Kagda)

February 2002: Special CBI court began trial in the fodder scam case.

December 2006: Lalu Yadav and Rabri get acquitted by a lower court in a case pertaining to Disproportionate Assets.

March 2012: CBI tightens its grip around the fodder scam and frames charges against Lalu Yadav and former CM Jagannath Mishra.

September 2013: Trial court convicts Lalu Yadav, Jagannath Mishra and 45 others in one of the six cases related to fodder scam. Lalu was then sent to Ranchi prison and his Lok Sabha membership was disqualified, debarred from contesting any election.

December 2013: Lalu Yadav granted bail from Supreme Court in the fodder scam case.

RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav at his residence in Patna. (Express Photo by Alok Jain)

May 2017: Trial resumes in fodder scam case following orders from the Supreme Court to separately try them in Deoghar Treasury case.

December 23, 2017: Verdict Out! CBI Court finds Lalu Yadav and 15 others guilty, sent to Birsa Munda prison. Lalu now stands convicted in two of six cases in the fodder scam.