97-421: The Fodder Scam was a corruption scandal that involved the embezzlement of about ₹ 940 crore (equivalent to ₹ 48 billion or US$ 570 million in 2023) from the government treasury of the north Indian state of Bihar . Among those implicated in the theft and arrested were then Chief Minister of Bihar , Lalu Prasad Yadav , as well as former Chief Minister, Jagannath Mishra . The scandal led to
194-506: A committee to probe the irregularities. There were fears that state police, which is accountable to the state administration, and the probe committee would not investigate the case vigorously, and demands were raised to transfer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is under federal rather than state jurisdiction. Allegations were also made that several of the probe committee members were themselves complicit in
291-436: A detailed report highlighting the inclusion of high-profile persons including Chief Minister and others. His reports were ignored and he was transferred to another department and was slapped with multiple frivolous inquiries and suspension. He was also threatened by hurling bomb in his residence so as to stay away from participating investigations. Although the scam was later picked by other authorities and persons of interests. He
388-420: A district magistrate vary from state to state, but generally, Collectors, under the general supervision of divisional commissioners (where such a post exists), are entrusted with a wide range of duties in the jurisdiction of the district, generally involving the following: While almost all of the 741 Indian districts are headed by DMs, constitutional developments post Independence in 1947 have led to
485-601: A fine of Rs 2.5 million. The 65-year-old leader has lost his Lok Sabha seat and is also barred from contesting election for six years following the sentencing due to an earlier Supreme Court order. Another former Bihar chief minister, Jagannath Mishra, has been handed a 4-year sentence. Since it broke into public light, the fodder scam has become symbolic of bureaucratic corruption and the criminalisation of politics in India generally, and in Bihar in particular. It has been called
582-507: A five-year jail term and imposed a fine of ₹10,00,000/- (INR One Million) on Lalu Prasad Yadav. The total jail term in the three judgement sentences amount to 13½ years. In 2021, Indian web series Maharani was loosely based on this scam and subsequently Rabri Devi was made the Chief Minister of Bihar . Embezzlement Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman , from Old French besillier ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin)
679-415: A full-fledged mafia had formed. Jagannath Mishra , who served his first stint as the chief minister of Bihar in the mid-1970s, was the earliest chief minister to be accused of knowing involvement in the scam. In February 1985, the then Comptroller and Auditor General of India , T. N. Chaturvedi , took notice of delayed monthly account submissions by the Bihar state treasury and departments and wrote to
776-432: A high-return investment scheme. The Madoff investment scandal is an example of this kind of high-level embezzlement scheme, where it is alleged that $ 65 billion was siphoned off from gullible investors and financial institutions. Internal controls such as separation of duties are common defences against embezzlement. For example, at a movie theatre (cinema), the task of accepting money and admitting customers into
873-456: A master, e.g., a slave) would owe to their master their labour; and, if they left their indentured service or bound labour unlawfully, the labour they produced, either for themselves (i.e., self-employed), or for anyone else, would be the converted goods that they unlawfully took, from the rightful owner, their master. Crucially (and this can be seen as the purpose of the statute), any subsequent employer of such an indentured servant or slave, who
970-405: A pattern by extremely senior political and bureaucratic officials in the Bihar government. In 1992, Bidhu Bhushan Dvivedi, a police inspector with the state's anti-corruption vigilance unit submitted a report outlining the fodder scam and likely involvement at the chief ministerial level to the director general of the same vigilance unit, G. Narayan. In alleged reprisal, Dvivedi was transferred out of
1067-720: A reduction in power and realignment of roles for the District Magistrate. The first major change came about in the early 1960s as the Judiciary was separated from the Executive in most Indian states in line with Article 50 of the Constitution of India . This meant that DMs and SDMs could no longer try criminal cases or commit accused to Sessions Court . Their place was taken by Chief Judicial Magistrates and Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrates. The District Magistrate
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#17327804849191164-409: A sentence of five years and four years for Lalu and Jagannath Mishra, respectively. Former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad was sentenced to five years in jail in a fodder scam case by a special CBI court on 3 October 2013. The court of Pravas Kumar Singh announced the quantum of punishment via video conference due to security reasons. Prasad has also been slapped with
1261-583: A simpler form of administration prevailed with many elements of the Criminal Procedure Code suspended and the DM functioning as the District and Sessions Judge as well. Here the post was known as Deputy Commissioner, due to these provinces having a Chief Commissioner who took the place of the usual Governor and High Court and exercised both executive and judicial functions. Post Independence,
1358-444: A small amount of money and falsifying the record the register would be consistent, while the manager would remove the profit and leave the float in; this method would effectively make the register short for the next user and throw the blame onto them.) Another method is to create a false vendor account and supply false bills to the company being embezzled so that the checks that are cut appear completely legitimate. Yet another method
1455-501: A state-controlled sector of the economy. The investigation and prosecution in the Fodder Scam has said to be guided by the political consideration and motive. For making a strong against case against the politicians and the bureaucrats, CBI launched the prosecution against majority of the officials including lower level staffs, which did not have any nexus with the scam. Many employees of the department were suspended and sentenced by
1552-465: A symptom of a "deep and chronic malady afflicting the Bihar government and quite a few other state governments as well." In the Indian parliament , it was cited as an important indicator of the deep inroads made by Mafia Raj in the politics and economics of the country. Reference has also been made to the anarchic nature of governance (the "withering away of the state") that occurs when a mafia develops in
1649-456: A year, and 31% lasted over three years. The average embezzler had worked at the company for eight years. 39% of financial professionals who experienced embezzlements had experienced a prior incident of it. After the embezzlement, only 26% of companies added security and audit requirements, 27% increased spending on audits, and 29% reviewed their anti-fraud controls frequently. However 97% of companies which had experienced embezzlement were "confident
1746-424: Is a term commonly used for a type of financial crime , usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking advantage of their position to steal funds or assets, most commonly over a period of time. Embezzlement is not always a form of theft or an act of stealing per se , since those definitions specifically deal with taking something that does not belong to
1843-446: Is much more difficult to identify. Employers have developed a number of strategies to deal with this problem. In fact, cash registers were invented just for this reason. Some of the most complex (and potentially most lucrative) forms of embezzlement involve Ponzi-like financial schemes where high returns to early investors are paid out of funds received from later investors duped into believing they are themselves receiving entry into
1940-519: Is often referred by his first name in Indian media). On the same day, a businessman, Harish Khandelwal, who was one of the accused was found dead on train tracks with a note that stated that he was being coerced by the CBI to turn witness for the prosecution. The CBI rejected the charge and its local director, U. N. Biswas, kept the appeal to the governor in place. An Income Tax Investigation also blamed Lalu for
2037-407: Is primarily responsible for maintaining law and order , while the district collector focuses on land revenue administration, and the deputy commissioner is in charge of overseeing developmental activities and coordinates government departments. Additionally, they also serve as election officers, registrar, marriage officer, licensing authority, and managing disaster responses, among other things. While
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#17327804849192134-460: Is to create phantom employees, who are then paid with payroll checks. The latter two methods should be uncovered by routine audits, but often are not if the audit is not sufficiently in-depth, because the paperwork appears to be in order. A publicly traded company must change auditors and audit companies every five years. The first method is easier to detect if all transactions are by cheque or other instrument, but if many transactions are in cash, it
2231-713: The Bombay Presidency and Central Provinces , it was known simply as the District Collector even though he was also the District Magistrate. In the Madras Presidency , it was often known simply as Collector. Law and order was an important subject in the United Provinces and the post continues to be known as the District Magistrate in present-day Uttar Pradesh . In non-regulation provinces like Punjab , Burma , Assam and Oudh ,
2328-683: The CBI again (similar to Lalu's DA case) did not file any appeal. Chhattisgarh High Court rejected Government of Chhattisgarh 's appeal due to Supreme Court 's order (which is binding on all) in Lalu Disproportionate assets case. On 19 March 2012, the Supreme Court agreed to review its own decision in Lalu's Disproportionate assets case. However, in May 2012, Supreme Court dismissed
2425-623: The Government of India 's development programs in the district. The different names of the office are a legacy of the varying administration systems in British India . While the powers exercised by the officer were mostly the same throughout the country, the preferred name often reflected his primary role in the particular province. In the Bengal Presidency , the post was called District Magistrate and Collector whereas in
2522-538: The Indian National Congress and the Janata Dal parties. The corruption scheme involved the fabrication of "vast herds of fictitious livestock" for which fodder, medicines and animal husbandry equipment was supposedly procured. Although the scandal broke in 1996, the theft had been in progress, and increased in size, for over two decades. Besides the magnitude and duration of the theft, the scam
2619-635: The Larceny Act 1916 . The former offences of embezzlement are replaced by the new offence of theft, contrary to section 1 of the Theft Act 1968 . In the United States, embezzlement is a statutory offence that, depending on the circumstances, may be a crime under state law, federal law, or both, with the definition of the crime of embezzlement varying according to the statutes of the jurisdiction in which charges are filed. Typical elements of
2716-661: The Patna High Court in Patna were also transferred to Ranchi. Of the 63 cases that the agency had filed by May 2007, the majority were being litigated in the Jharkhand High Court. Lalu's initial chargesheet, filed by the CBI on 27 April 1996, was against case RC 20-A/96, relating to fraudulent withdrawals of ₹ 370 million (US$ 4.4 million) from the Chaibasa treasury of the (then) Bihar government, and
2813-554: The Union Public Service Commission , promoted from State Civil Service (SCS) or nominated from Non-State Civil Service (Non-SCS). The direct recruits are posted as Collectors after five to six years of service. SCS officers are also posted as Collectors when they attain at least the Selection Grade (Level 13 Grade Pay) in their service. A District Magistrate and Collector is transferred to and from
2910-498: The full amount of the funds is available and no fraction of the savings has been embezzled by the person to whom the funds or savings have been entrusted. In 2020, 37% of employee fraud happened because of a lack of internal controls or lack of independent checks and audits, 18% by overriding internal controls, 18% from lack of management review, 10% from a poor tone set by top managers, and 17% from other causes. Offences of embezzlement were formerly created by sections 18 and 19 of
3007-535: The CBI discovered further evidence over the following years, it filed additional cases related to fraud and criminal conspiracy based on specific criminal acts of illegal withdrawals from the Bihar treasury. Most new cases filed after the division of Bihar state (into the new Bihar and Jharkhand states) in November 2000 were filed in the new Jharkhand High Court located in Ranchi, and several cases previously filed in
Fodder Scam - Misplaced Pages Continue
3104-508: The CBI to pursue the prosecution. Looking retrospectively, Lalu has said that the scam had a lasting negative impact on his political career, and may have ended his prospects to one day be prime minister of India. There were reports that Joginder Singh had violated norms in keeping the new prime minister, IK Gujral, in the dark as he pursued the prosecution. Gujral's own new government also depended on Lalu for support in parliament, and Joginder Singh later alleged that Gujral had attempted to block
3201-406: The CBI's request to the state governor to prosecute the chief minister. The governor, A. R. Kidwai , was accountable to the federal government, and had already stated that he would need to be satisfied that strong evidence against Lalu existed before he would permit a formal indictment to proceed. The federal government, led by newly appointed prime minister Inder Kumar Gujral who had just succeeded
3298-466: The Courts, against whom there were evidence or direct involvement in the scam. The rationale given in the judgement for such penalty was their posting or deputation in the offices from where the scams were conducted, without any direct involvement in the scams. Due to this the family members of many employees were left without any option for earning. The trail which was started in 1996 is still in process and
3395-621: The Janata Dal, Jagdish Sharma of the Congress party, and Dhruv Bhagat of the Bharatiya Janata Party ) and some current and former IAS officers (including the 4 who were already in custody). Mishra was granted anticipatory bail by the Bihar state High Court. Lalu's anticipatory bail petition, however, was rejected by the same court, and he appealed to the Supreme Court , which resulted in a final denial of bail on 29 July. On
3492-649: The Land Revenue Act, Revenue recovery rules, Land acquisition act , Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), the Arms Act, 1959 , The Cinematograph Act, Registration Act, peoples representation act, and other relevant acts. They are entrusted with land revenue administration, maintaining law and order, managing district administration, and implementing government policies and also they are incharge of various state and central government schemes and projects at district level. The responsibilities assigned to
3589-548: The RJD. Lalu claimed he had been instrumental in helping HD Deve Gowda become the prime minister. However, there was press speculation that Gowda held a grudge against Lalu for insisting that Gowda step down when Gowda's fledgling government ran into internal coalition squabbles, and this motivated him to push CBI Director Joginder Singh for Lalu's prosecution. Much later, in 2008, Lalu also claimed that Deve Gowda confessed, and "wept and fainted," when Lalu confronted him on inciting
3686-546: The Review Petition holding that the earlier Judgment did not suffer from any mistake apparent on the face of the record warranting any review. On 6 January 2018, the CBI Court has awarded Lalu a three-and-a-half-year jail term and five-lakh fine. As of May 2013, the trial has completed in 44 cases out of a total of 53 cases. More than 500 accused have been convicted and awarded punishments by various courts. Some of
3783-505: The anti-fraud controls in place ... would prevent future embezzlement". Deputy Commissioner (India) The district magistrate , also known as the district collector or deputy commissioner , is a career civil servant who serves as the executive head of a district 's administration in India. The specific name depends on the state or union territory . Each of these posts has distinct responsibilities, and an officer can assume all of these roles at once. The district magistrate
3880-403: The average embezzlement stole $ 360,000. The estimated losses in 2005–2009 (including the many with no arrest) were $ 400 billion per year. In 2018 companies brought charges in 45% of cases. 85% of incidents involved an embezzler who was a manager or higher. The average incident involved three embezzlers, and 79% of incidents involved more than one embezzler. 70% of cases went undetected for over
3977-655: The case, Government of Chhattisgarh in an unrelated case requested the Supreme Court to review its verdict in Lalu Yadav Disproportionate assets case. The Government of Chhattisgarh was aggrieved by Supreme Court verdict in DA case when it was trying to challenge the acquittal of former chief minister Ajit Jogi 's son Amit Jogi in a murder case. After the trial court in Chhattisgarh acquitted Amit Jogi in May 2007, for over three-and-a-half years,
Fodder Scam - Misplaced Pages Continue
4074-409: The chance of theft, because of the added difficulty in arranging such a conspiracy and the likely need to split the proceeds between the two employees, which reduces the payoff for each. Another obvious method to deter embezzlement is to regularly and unexpectedly move funds from one advisor or entrusted person to another when the funds are supposed to be available for withdrawal or use, to ensure that
4171-502: The chief ministership had gained momentum both from other parties, as well as within Lalu's own party, the Janata Dal . On 5 July, Lalu formally parted ways with the Janata Dal and formed his own party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (or RJD), taking with him virtually all the Janata Dal legislators in the Bihar state assembly, and winning a vote of confidence in the state assembly a few days later. The RJD continued to support
4268-426: The coalition federal government, however. With demands for his resignation continuing to mount, on 25 July, Lalu resigned from his position, but was able to install his wife, Rabri Devi as the new chief minister on the same day. On 28 July 1997, Rabri's new government won another vote of confidence in the Bihar legislature by 194–110, thanks to the Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha parties voting in alignment with
4365-515: The colonial legacy, corruption, promoting uniformity, devolving power to local bodies, ensuring separation of power, mitigating power concentration, addressing status quoist tendencies, and advancing grass-root democracy. There have also been many instances where at lower levels, district magistrates have pressurized victims or their family members, especially if they belong to the marginalized community Kolkata in West Bengal does not have
4462-408: The courts will look at factors such as the job title, job description and the particular operational practices of the firm or organization. For example, the manager of a shoe department at a department store would likely have sufficient control over the store's inventory (as head of the shoe department) of shoes; that if they converted the goods to their own use they would be guilty of embezzlement. On
4559-430: The crime of embezzlement are the fraudulent conversion of the property of another person by the person who has lawful possession of the property. In 2005–2009 the United States had 18,000 to 22,000 arrests for embezzlement per year, and 13,500 arrests in 2019. A 2009 journal article reported estimates that three quarters of medical professionals would suffer from embezzlement at least once in their career. In 2018
4656-531: The different names have continued even though the role and powers of the DM are almost the same throughout India. [Chhattisgarh]], etc. They are posted by the state government , from among the pool of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and State Civil Services (SCS) officers, who either are on Level 11, Level 12 or Level 13 of the Pay Matrix, in the state. The members of the IAS are either directly recruited by
4753-410: The distinction is particularly difficult when dealing with misappropriations of property by employees. To prove embezzlement, the state must show that the employee had possession of the goods "by virtue of his or her employment"; that is, that the employee had formally delegated authority to exercise substantial control over the goods. Typically, in determining whether the employee had sufficient control
4850-639: The district under his authority. The documents his team seized, and went public with, conclusively indicated large-scale embezzlement by an organised mafia of officials and business people. The news of fodder scam was first broken out by Indian journalist Ravi S Jha, who working with the Asian Age then in Calcutta, named the then Bihar Chief Minister of having implicit involvement in the scam. Based on evidence collected by him from Chaibasa, Jha not only found out widespread involvement of Bihar government machinery in
4947-418: The embezzler, but the loss to the asset stakeholders. An example of conversion is when a person logs checks in a check register or transaction log as being used for one specific purpose and then explicitly uses the funds from the checking account for another and completely different purpose. When embezzlement occurs as a form of theft, distinguishing between embezzlement and larceny can be tricky. Making
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#17327804849195044-399: The end of Lalu's reign as Chief Minister. Dineshwar Prasad Sharma is also alleged to have received ₹300.60 crore from S. N. Sinha. On 23 December 2017, Lalu Prasad Yadav was convicted by a special CBI court while Jagannath Misra was acquitted. The theft spanned many years, and allegedly involved numerous administrative and elected officials of Bihar State across multiple administrations of
5141-421: The excessive drawls of money by Animal Husbandry department from Ranchi treasury. The enquiry revealed a whole scale loot of government money; drawn fraudulently by forged documents. Then on 27 January 1996, the deputy commissioner of West Singhbhum district, Amit Khare , acted on direction from Vijai Shankar Dubey to conduct a raid on the offices of the animal husbandry department in the town of Chaibasa in
5238-517: The existence of a politician-official-business mafia nexus at work. Some legislators of the Bihar Legislative Council responded by claiming the court had been misinformed by the CBI and initiating a privilege motion to discuss possible action against senior figures in the regional headquarters of the CBI, which could proceed similar to a contempt of court proceeding and result in stalling the investigation or even prosecution of
5335-466: The fate of many innocent people has been hanging without a certainty. Lalu Prasad Yadav is the only person on whom the Lok Sabha debated for a complete session as the official agenda. As of now, Lalu Prasad Yadav has been awarded a three-and-a-half-year jail term and a five-lakh fine by the CBI court on 6 January 2018. On 24 January 2018 the court passed judgement for the third case and has awarded
5432-459: The first four of whom were IAS officers, were taken into judicial custody on the same day. The CBI also began preparing a chargesheet against Lalu to be filed in a special court. Expecting to be accused and imprisoned, Lalu filed an anticipatory bail petition, which the CBI opposed in a deposition to the court, listing the evidence against Lalu. Also, on 21 June, fearing that evidence and documentation that might prove essential in further exposing
5529-532: The general controlling authority over all departments in each district." The office of a collector during the British Raj held multiple responsibilities – as collector, he was the head of the revenue organization, charged with registration, alteration, and partition of holdings; the settlement of disputes; the management of indebted estates; loans to agriculturists, and famine relief. As district magistrate, he exercised general supervision over
5626-480: The inferior courts and in particular, directed the police work. The office was meant to achieve the "peculiar purpose" of collecting revenue and of keeping the peace. The superintendent of police (SP), inspector general of jails, the surgeon general, the divisional forest officer (DFO) and the Executive Engineer PWD (EE) had to inform the collector of every activity in their departments. Until
5723-505: The later part of the nineteenth century, no native was eligible to become a district collector. But with the introduction of open competitive examinations for the Indian Civil Service , the office was opened to natives. Romesh Chandra Dutt , Sripad Babaji Thakur, Anandaram Baruah , Krishna Govinda Gupta and Brajendranath De were the first five Indian ICS officers to become Collectors. The district continued to be
5820-485: The master–servant relationship) in exclusive right, to the master of the indentured servant or slave. Embezzlement sometimes involves falsification of records in order to conceal the activity. Embezzlers commonly secrete relatively small amounts repeatedly, in a systematic or methodical manner, over a long period of time, although some embezzlers secrete one large sum at once. Some very successful embezzlement schemes have continued for many years before being detected due to
5917-452: The most prominent convicts include former CM of Bihar Lalu Prasad, former Member of Parliament Rabindra Kumar Rana and former Member of Legislative Assembly Dhruv Bhagat . On 30 September 2013, a Special CBI Court in Ranchi convicted Lalu Prasad Yadav and Jagannath Mishra along with 44 others in the case. Thirty-seven people were taken into judicial custody. The court has announced
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#17327804849196014-493: The multiplicity of cases, Lalu Yadav, Jagannath Mishra, and the other accused have been remanded several times in the years since 2000. In 2007, 58 former officials and suppliers were convicted, and given terms of 5 to 6 years each. As of May 2007, about 200 people had been punished with jail terms of between 2 and 7 years. A 2005 litigation of one of the cases (RC 68-A/96) in the Jharkhand High Court involved over 20 truckloads of documents. On 1 March 2012, nearly 16 years after CBI
6111-528: The named CBI officials. However, U. N. Biswas , the regional CBI director, and the other officials tendered an unqualified apology to the Legislative Council, the privilege motion was dropped, and the CBI probe continued. As the investigation proceeded, the CBI unearthed linkages to the serving chief minister of Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav and, on 10 May 1997, made a formal request to the federally-appointed Governor of Bihar to prosecute Lalu (who
6208-562: The other hand, if the same employee were to steal cosmetics from the cosmetics department of the store, the crime would not be embezzlement but larceny. For a case that exemplifies the difficulty of distinguishing larceny and embezzlement see State v. Weaver , 359 N.C. 246; 607 S.E.2d 599 (2005). North Carolina appellate courts have compounded this confusion by misinterpreting a statute based on an act passed by parliament in 1528. The North Carolina courts interpreted this statute as creating an offence called "larceny by employee"; an offence that
6305-470: The perpetrators. Instead, embezzlement is, more generically, an act of deceitfully secreting assets by one or more persons that have been entrusted with such assets. The persons entrusted with such assets may or may not have an ownership stake in such assets. Embezzlement differs from larceny in three ways. First, in embezzlement, an actual conversion must occur; second, the original taking must not be trespassory , and third, in penalties. To say that
6402-492: The post by the state government. The District Collector/District Magistrate is provided with Personal Security Officers, including armed guards, to ensure their safety and protection. The District Collector/District Magistrate has personal staff, including a Personal Assistant (PA), a Secretary, and other support staff like clerks, peons, and drivers. The District Collector holds a diverse range of responsibilities that are defined under various laws and regulations, including
6499-513: The same day, Bihar state police were ordered to arrest him. The next day, he was jailed. Later, the Bihar Director General of Police , SK Saxena, justified the one-day delay in arresting Lalu by stating in court that "any precipitate action would have led to police firing and killing of a large number of people." As it became evident that Lalu would be engulfed in the scandal and its prosecution, demands for him to be removed from
6596-576: The scam investigation from proceeding. On 30 June, the federal government issued orders to transfer Singh out of the CBI and into the Home Ministry as a Special Secretary, which was technically a promotion but also had the effect of removing him from the investigation. There was also an alleged follow-on move to transfer U. N. Biswas, the regional CBI director, which led to the High Court warning that it would act to disallow any such transfer. As
6693-444: The scam were being destroyed, the CBI conducted raids on Lalu's residence and those of some relatives suspected of complicity. On 23 June, the CBI filed chargesheets against Lalu and 55 other co-accused, including Chandradeo Prasad Verma (a former union minister), Jagannath Mishra (former Bihar chief minister), two members of Lalu's cabinet (Bhola Ram Toofani and Vidya Sagar Nishad), three Bihar state assembly legislators (RK Rana of
6790-486: The scam, he even mentioned how earlier governments too were taking advantage of a shoddy system, where top government officials along with the ministers were flouting norms to make money illegally. Jha, an associate director of Public Affairs, is currently working with anti-corruption crusader and good governance promoter Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament. Lalu ordered the constitution of
6887-510: The scam. A public interest litigation was filed with the Supreme Court of India , which led to the court's involvement, and based on the ultimate directions issued by the supreme court, in March 1996, the Patna High Court ordered that the case be handed over to the CBI. An inquiry by the CBI began and, within days, the CBI filed a submission to the High Court that Bihar officials and legislators were blocking access to documents that could reveal
6984-525: The scam. On 8 May 2017, In a major set back for RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Supreme Court has ordered separate trials in all four cases registered against him in the Rs. 1000 crore fodder scam. The SC was hearing a CBI plea challenging the Jharkhand High Court's dropping of conspiracy charges against him. The SC asked the trial court to complete the trial in 9 months. A few days of uncertainty followed
7081-411: The service provider Aramark were found to be under-reporting profits from a string of vending machine locations in the eastern United States. While the amount stolen from each machine was relatively small, the total amount taken from many machines over a length of time was very large. A technique employed by many small-time embezzlers can be covered by falsifying the records. (For example, by removing
7178-427: The short-lived government of the previous prime minister H. D. Deve Gowda , consisted of a coalition that depended on support from federal legislators affiliated with Lalu for its survival. It was also unclear why the CBI had sought the governor's consent in the first place and, when the High Court demanded to know why it was being sought, the CBI stated that it was a "precautionary measure." The High Court, questioning
7275-406: The skill of the embezzler in concealing the nature of the transactions or their skill in gaining the trust and confidence of investors or clients, who are then reluctant to "test" the embezzler's trustworthiness by forcing a withdrawal of funds. Embezzling should not be confused with skimming , which is under-reporting income and pocketing the difference. For example, in 2005, several managers of
7372-536: The specific scope of duties may vary from state to state, they are generally similar. The district magistrate comes under the general supervision of divisional commissioner . Warren Hastings introduced the office of the District Collector in the Judicial Plan of 1772. By the Judicial Plan of 1774, the office of the Collector cum District Magistrate was temporarily renamed Diwan or Amil. The term Collector
7469-489: The tactic, warned that it would allow some time for the permission to transpire, but if it sensed a delay, it would force a prosecution on its own authority. On 17 June, the governor gave permission for Lalu and others to be prosecuted. Five senior Bihar government officials (Mahesh Prasad, science and technology secretary; K. Arumugam, labour secretary; Beck Julius, animal husbandry department secretary; Phoolchand Singh, former finance secretary; Ramraj Ram, former AHD director),
7566-405: The taking was not trespassory is to say that the persons performing the embezzlement had the right to possess, use or access the assets in question, and that such persons subsequently secreted and converted the assets for an unintended or unsanctioned use. Conversion requires that the secretion interfere with the property , rather than just relocate it. As in larceny, the measure is not the gain to
7663-489: The theatre is typically broken up into two jobs. One employee sells the ticket, and another employee takes the ticket and lets the customer into the theatre. Because a ticket cannot be printed without entering the sale into the computer (or, in earlier times, without using up a serial-numbered printed ticket), and the customer cannot enter the theatre without a ticket, both of these employees would have to collude in order for embezzlement to go undetected. This significantly reduces
7760-409: The then Bihar chief minister, Chandrashekhar Singh, warning him that this could be indicative of temporary embezzlement. This initiated a continuous chain of closer scrutiny and warnings by Principal Accountant Generals (PAGs) and CAGs to the Bihar government across the tenures of multiple chief ministers (cutting across party affiliations), but the warnings were ignored in a manner that was suggestive of
7857-573: The unit of administration after India gained independence in 1947. The role of the district collector remained largely unchanged, except for the separation of most judicial powers to judicial officers of the district. Later, with the promulgation of the National Extension Services and Community Development Programme by the Nehru government in 1952, the district collector was entrusted with the additional responsibility of implementing
7954-528: The verdict (of CBI court) in Patna High Court and the high court accepted the plea. This verdict of Patna High Court was challenged by Lalu and the CBI in SC . The SC in April 2010 declared that the Government of Bihar has no right to file appeal against acquittal of the accused even in cases where the CBI refuses to challenge the trial court or High Court's verdict favouring the accused. In yet another twist in
8051-487: The vigilance unit to a different branch of the administration, and then suspended from his position. He was later to be a witness as corruption cases relating to the scam went to trial, and reinstated by order of the Jharkhand High Court . Bihar Veterinary Association for the first time exposed Animal Husbandry Mafia in its 1985 Press Conference. In 1990 the executive committee of Bihar Veterinary Association
8148-473: Was Sushil Kumar Modi who initiated the whole episode after it was broken out by V S Dubey. The then charismatic yet 'native' leader Lalu Prasad Yadav was the Chief Minister of undivided Bihar, where the then finance commissioner V S Dubey stumbled upon the financial irregularities of a massive scale. In 1992, then Police Inspector Bidhu Bhushan Dvivedi who was with the state vigilance department submitted
8245-720: Was and continues to be covered in Indian media due to the extensive nexus between tenured bureaucrats , elected politicians and businesspeople that it revealed, and as an example of the Mafia Raj that has penetrated several state-run economic sectors in the country. As of May 2013, the trial was completed in 44 cases out of a total of 53 cases. More than 500 accused have been convicted and awarded punishments by various courts. The scam had its origins in small-scale embezzlement by some government employees submitting false expense reports, which grew in magnitude and drew additional elements, such as politicians and businesses, over time, until
8342-537: Was based on statutes including Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating) and 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), as well as section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 . Even though he had been jailed, he was kept in relative comfort at the Bihar Military Police guest house. After 135 days in judicial custody, Lalu was released on bail on 12 December 1997. The next year, on 28 October 1998, he
8439-523: Was brought back under the Judicial Plan of 1787. The name, Collector, derived from the holder being the head of the revenue organization (tax collection) for the district. With the passage of the Government of India Act 1858 , by the British Parliament . Sir George Campbell , lieutenant-governor of Bengal from 1871 to 1874, intended "to render the heads of districts no longer the drudges of many departments and masters of none, but in fact
8536-500: Was changed and Dr Dinneshwar Prasad Sharma was made the General Secretary of BVA. Once the mafia had control over the association, they went all guns blazing. At that point, Dr. Dharmendra Sinha and Dr. Biresh Prasad Sinha (the ex-office bearers of BVA) started collecting and gathering information against this whole unethical practice of Mafia. They exposed this to all the political guns of Bihar. Among all these political guns
8633-480: Was filed against Lalu in August 1998. The Income Tax claimed that Lalu had amassed wealth of Rs. 4.6 million out of the government treasury. Lalu and Rabri were chargesheeted in April 2000 and charges were framed by the court on 9 June 2000. Finally, the couple was acquitted on 18 December 2006 by a special CBI court. CBI didn't appeal against this verdict in high court. However, Government of Bihar challenged
8730-473: Was first detained in July 1997. However, he was taken into custody on 16 September of the same year. He was freed on bail on 13 October but then remanded again, at the same time as Lalu, on 28 October 1998, when he was kept at the same guest house as Lalu, and later shifted to Beur jail along with him. Mishra was freed on bail on 18 December, but then rearrested in a different fodder scam case on 7 June 2000. Due to
8827-413: Was handled over the case, a special CBI court in Patna framed charges against Lalu Prasad Yadav and Jagannath Mishra along with 32 other accused. Of the total 44 accused, six have died, two have turned approvers , while two others are still evading arrest. The CBI had chargesheeted them in this case on 3 March 2003. The court said that the trial would begin soon. A disproportionate assets (DA) case
8924-401: Was in fact bound to service of labour to a pre-existing master, would be chargeable with misprision of a felony (if it was proved they knew that the employee was still indentured to a master, or owned as a slave); and chargeable as an accessory after the fact, in the felony, with the servant or slave; in helping them, by employing them, in unlawfully taking that which was lawfully bound (through
9021-405: Was never given true credit for unearthing the biggest scam while being in a subordinate rank with true compassion and honesty. On 19 January 1996, State Finance Secretary V S Dubey ordered district magistrates and deputy commissioners of all districts to go into cases of excessive withdrawals. He followed it up on 20 January 1996 by despatching one of his additional secretaries to make an enquiry of
9118-686: Was not created till 1978 in Delhi , 2008 in Mizoram , 2016 in Arunachal Pradesh and 2020 in Meghalaya . South Garo Hills District in Meghalaya, the last remaining district of India with the District Magistrate also exercising judicial powers, finally got a separate District and Sessions Court on 17 December 2020. The need to restructure the roles of the District Collector is for removing
9215-880: Was now the main Executive Magistrate of the district - charged with taking preventive measures for maintenance of law and order. Indirectly, this led to a loss of direct control over the police which now depended on the District Judge and the Judicial Magistrates. This change was institutionalised by the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. In the Union Territories and the North Eastern states, Collectors continued to exercise judicial power for much longer. A separate district judiciary
9312-698: Was rearrested on a different conspiracy case relating to the fodder scam, at first being kept in the same guest house, but then being moved to Patna's Beur jail when the Supreme Court objected. After being granted bail, he was rearrested yet again in a disproportionate assets case on 5 April 2000. His wife and then Chief Minister Rabri Devi was also asked to surrender on that date, but then immediately granted bail. This stint in prison lasted 11 days for Lalu, followed by one day's imprisonment in another fodder scam case on 28 November 2000. Jagannath Mishra had been permitted bail in June 1997, and avoided judicial remand when Lalu
9409-454: Was separate and distinct from common law larceny. However, as Perkins notes, the purpose of the statute was not to create a new offence but was merely to confirm that the acts described in the statute met the elements of common law larceny. The statute served the purpose of the then North Carolina colony as an indentured servant and slave-based political economy . It ensured that an indentured servant (or anyone bound to service of labour to
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