Fodder Case Trial Begins, CBI Produces Two Witnesses

Patna, Apr 2: The trial in the multi-crore fodder scam against 33 accused including former chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra today began in a designated CBI court here today, 16 years after the case was registered.

As the trial began before Judge B K Srivastava, CBI produced two witnesses Prithvi Raj Gaud and Mahesh Prasad who had sanctioned and issued permission letters for prosecution of some of the accused in fodder scam cases related to withdrawal of crores of public money from the treasuries of Banka and Bhagalpur between 1994 and 1996.

The CBI had registered a case under section various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Prasad, Mishra and others in connection with fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 46 lakhs from Banka and Bhagalpur treasuries.

The CBI had on March 31, 2003 charge sheeted 44 persons before a special CBI court out of which the court had ordered framing of charges against 33 on March 1, 2012 to clear the decks for trial.

Prasad and others had, on August 18, 2011, filed applications before the designated CBI court seeking quashing of charges against them which the court had rejected and later ordered framing of charges against them.