The Supreme Court today delivered a major blow to former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad in the fodder scam restoring conspiracy charges against him. The top court, while upholding the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) plea challenging dropping of charges against the RJD chief, ordered separate trials in all the cases linked to the Rs 1000 crore scam.

The Supreme Court said that the Jharkhand High Court should have been consistent in its findings and should not have given different views for different sets of accused in a case. The top court also pulled up the CBI for delay in filing appeal against the high court order in the case. The court also asked the trial court to complete the trial in next nine months.

The charges are linked to a case of withdrawal of Rs 96 lakh fraudulently during Lalu's regime.

The CBI had filed a plea in the apex court against the dropping of a conspiracy charge against Lalu Prasad by the Jharkhand High Court

The high court had ordered that proceedings against Lalu be continued under IPC Sections 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence committed or giving false information) and 511 (attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or imprisonment, and in such attempt doing any act towards the commission of the offence).

Lalu was convicted by a special CBI court in Ranchi and awarded five year sentence in October, 2013 , in one of the cases of the fodder scam. The sentencing barred him from contesting any election for 11 years. The Rashtriya Janata Dal had then approached the Jharkhand high court challenging the verdict of the CBI court.

The fodder scam relates to fraudulent withdrawal of around Rs 1,000 crore by the Animal Husbandry department from various districts when Lalu was the Bihar chief minister from 1990 to 1997.

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WATCH | Fodder scam: Massive setback for Lalu Prasad as Supreme Court orders separate trials