Fodder scam: Court issues summons to former government officials

Accepting Lalu Prasad Yadav's plea, Ranchi's CBI Special Court today (March 16) issued summons to then Accountant General PK Mukhopadhyay and two other officers in the fourth fodder scam case involving the RJD chief.

 A special CBI court in Ranchi heard the case on Thursday and reserved the order. 

"We filed a petition on Monday asking the Attorney General office officials to be made accused in the case too. Both parties argued in the Court. The order has been reserved and it will be pronounced tomorrow. After that the date of judgement will be fixed," Lalu Yadav's lawyer Prabhat Kumar had said.

The fodder scam was first unearthed in the 1990's by the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General when it noticed that invoices from the Bihar treasury would always come in late. 

Lalu, who is accused in a total of six fodder scam cases, has been found guilty in three fodder scam cases so far.

The RJD chief is currently serving a 3.5-year jail term in Ranchi's Birsa Munda jail after being found guilty (in a fodder scam case) on December 23, 2017. 

An earlier conviction in 2013 for five years had made him ineligible to stand for elections for six years. 

He was pronounced guilty in the third fodder scam on January 24.