Corruption case against Lalu: It's all in the family

Lalu Prasad Yadav's tryst with the law and its enforcement agencies began in the 1970s when he was a student leader. But it was the fodder scam in 1996 when he started courting the law frequently. As the scam unravelled, Lalu's family was dragged into a host of scams. The CBI registered cases against his wife Rabri Devi, his two sons — Tejashwi and Tej Pratap — his daughter Misa Bharti and her husband Shailesh Kumar — and his other daughter Chanda Yadav.

Fodder scam

The scam surfaced in January 1996 after Deputy Commissioner Amit Khare raided the offices of the Animal Husbandry Department and seized documents that showed siphoning of funds by non-existent companies in the name of supplying fodder. 

In March 1996, the Patna High Court directed the CBI to probe the scam, following which the CBI registered an FIR in the Chaibasa Treasury case. Lalu was booked under various sections of the IPC for forgery, criminal conspiracy under the Prevention of Corruption Act in connection with the Fodder scam. The CBI filed 64 cases, of which over 56 accused have been identified, including top bureaucrats, politicians, and government employees. Lalu has been named as accused in six cases.

In another fodder case related to the Deogarh Treasury Case, Lalu was convicted by a special CBI court on December 23, 2017. The RJD leader has four more cases of swindling money through fake bills and vouchers pending against him. This is Lalu's ninth trip to jail and third to Ranchi's Birsa Munda Prison.

Disproportionate scam

Besides the fodder case, Lalu and Rabri were booked in a disproportionate assets case in 1998. As per the Income Tax Department's claims, Lalu had pocketed Rs 46 lakh from the government treasury and Rabri was accused of abetting the alleged crime. The husband-wife duo surrendered to a CBI court in 2000. Rabri, who was CM at the time, was granted bail. Lalu, too, was later granted bail by the Patna High Court. They were later acquitted in the case in 2006.

On September 30, 2013, Lalu and former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra along with 45 other accused were convicted by a special CBI court in Ranchi. Lalu was sentenced to five years of jail and sent to the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi. On his appeal, the Supreme Court granted him bail on December 13, 2013, on one of the six cases registered against him in the fodder scam.

Railway hotels scam

In a fresh trouble to Lalu and his family members, the CBI alleged that Lalu as Railway Minister in 2006 handed over the maintenance of two railway hotels —BNR Ranchi and Puri — to a private firm —Sujata Hotel — after receiving prime land in Patna through a benami company. The agency alleged that as quid pro quo, Rabri and Tejashwi were given prime property in Patna at throwaway prices. According to the CBI, Lalu abused his position and favoured Sujata Hotel and in return, he acquired "high-value premium land" through a benami company, Delight Marketing Company, for Rs 1.5 crore.

Money-laundering cases

In a money-laundering case being probed against two Delhi-based brothers, the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI found Lalu's daughter Misa Bharti and her husband Shailesh Kumar as the beneficiary of laundering funds. The couple was connected to a firm, Ms Mishail Printers and Packers Private Limited, which violated the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

The noose tightened around Lalu's family when his son Tej Pratap Yadav was booked for omitting details of land owned by him in his affidavit during the 2015 Assembly polls. The case was filed in September 2017 by BJP MLC Suraj Nandan Prasad. In his petition, the BJP leader alleged that Tej Pratap deliberately hid details of the land held by him.