The BJP has accused the Bihar government of attempting to give Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav a “clean chit” in the fodder scam case.
Mr. Yadav’s party, the RJD, is part of the Grand Alliance government in Bihar headed by Janata Dal (U) president Nitish Kumar. The files pertaining to the case went missing from the Animal Husbandry department in Patna. Mr. Yadav, who was convicted by a special CBI court in the case, is out on bail (granted by the Supreme Court) since December 2013.
“The missing files signify there are people in the system trying to get a clean-chit for Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav. Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar are friends and they are partners in crime,” said Union Minister for Skill Development Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
Mr. Rudy recalled that Mr. Yadav had to quit as Chief Minister of Bihar in 1997 because he was charged and sentenced in the fodder scam. “He was put behind bars. He had to quit his position as the Chief Minister,” he said. “There are reports that the file pertaining to the fodder scam was stolen. And it clearly emphasises the fact that there are people in the system who possibly would be working to give a clean-chit or to assist or facilitate the acquittal of Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav.”
He said the missing files signify a deterioration of the law and order situation. MLAs from the ruling combine and those close to the regime were committing crimes and getting away with them. He listed several cases of doctors being kidnapped for ransom.
“It seems it’s a part of that very same chain. We are all very concerned that the process of law and the process of justice will stand vitiated if such incidents happen, where the files pertaining to the fodder scam are stolen,” he said.
Meanwhile, an FIR has been registered at the Old Secretariat police station in Patna in this regard. The fodder scam involved the embezzlement of about Rs. 9.4 billion from the government treasury of Bihar.
