The Fodder Scam
Government treasuries in undivided Bihar paid out for animal feed, medicine, and equipment that were never actually purchased — a scheme running for years before raids exposed it, and one that eventually sent the state's sitting Chief Minister to prison, across five separate cases.
The Promise
“Funds disbursed from state treasuries for the Animal Husbandry Department will be spent on genuine purchases of fodder, medicine, and livestock-related equipment.”
— Government of Bihar, Animal Husbandry Department, State government department administering livestock-support spending · 1 January 1996
Over roughly a decade, officials and contractors are alleged to have fraudulently withdrawn funds from district treasuries across undivided Bihar (including areas now in Jharkhand) using fake bills for supplies that were never delivered.
The Standard
Treasury disbursements made only against genuine, verified purchases and deliveries, following standard state government financial controls.
Standard treasury and financial-control rules governing state government departmental spending.
In force from 1 January 1996
The Reality
Investigations found roughly ₹950 crore fraudulently withdrawn from treasuries in districts including Chaibasa, Deoghar, Dumka, and Doranda. Then-Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav was named as an accused and has been convicted multiple times across different treasury cases, with combined sentences across four cases reported at 14 years, plus a further 5-year sentence and ₹60 lakh fine in a fifth case (the Doranda treasury case) in 2022. The Supreme Court has separately heard appeals concerning suspension of sentences in the case.
As of 21 February 2022
The Gap
Bars share a single zero-based scale. No axis truncation is used to exaggerate or minimize the gap between the two figures.
Timeline
- StatusRaids expose the scam
Raids on Animal Husbandry Department offices uncover the scale of fraudulent withdrawals.
- StatusFirst conviction
Lalu Prasad Yadav is convicted in the Chaibasa treasury case, among the first of several.
- StatusDoranda case conviction
A special CBI court sentences Yadav to five years and a ₹60 lakh fine in the fifth and largest treasury case.
- StatusSupreme Court hears sentence-suspension appeals
The Court considers CBI appeals against a Jharkhand High Court order suspending sentences in the case.
Legal Status
This is a stub entry. Lalu Prasad Yadav has been convicted across multiple separate treasury cases within the broader scam; this investigation has not yet compiled a complete, case-by-case account of every conviction, sentence, and appeal outcome.
Convicted across multiple separate treasury cases, with combined sentencing reported at 14 years across four cases plus a further 5 years and a ₹60 lakh fine in a fifth (Doranda) case, 2022. Appeals concerning sentence suspension have continued.
Verdict
Preliminary verdict, pending fuller research: this is one of the more clearly adjudicated cases on this site — multiple criminal convictions across several separate treasury cases are a matter of court record. This investigation has not yet compiled a complete, reconciled account of every case, sentence, and current appeal status.
The convictions themselves are well documented and consistently reported. Confidence is not marked higher only because this entry has not yet fully reconciled the multiple separate treasury cases into one complete account.
What remains incomplete
- This is a stub entry. A complete, case-by-case account of every treasury case, conviction, and sentence has not yet been compiled.
- The current status of appeals against sentence suspension, including the Supreme Court proceedings noted above, has not been resolved in this entry.
- Other named co-accused beyond Lalu Prasad Yadav have not been detailed here.
Sources
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