India's rail minister to face trial

NEW DELHI, Tuesday (BBC) A court in India has charged federal Rail Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav with embezzling millions of dollars when he was chief minister of Bihar state.

The so-called fodder scam, in which state funds intended to be spent on animal fodder were allegedly siphoned off, first came to light in 1996. Mr Yadav denies wrong-doing. He is among a number of top officials being investigated for alleged involvement. The government has rejected opposition calls for his resignation. Under Indian law, politicians are barred from office only if convicted of a crime.

The judge in the special investigative court in Ranchi, capital of eastern Jharkhand state, charged Mr Yadav and nearly 70 others on Monday with embezzling millions of dollars in state funds intended for buying cattle fodder in 1996. The dairies from which funds were allegedly stolen are situated in Jharkhand, which split from Bihar in 2000.

Mr Yadav is alleged to have siphoned off $8.5m during his time as Bihar chief minister in the 1990s.

Another Bihar former chief minister, Jagannath Mishra, and at least four other civil servants were among those charged. If convicted, they could be jailed for up to seven years each.

Mr Yadav told the court he knew nothing about the alleged embezzlement. He told the BBC the charges against him were "politically motivated".

The political parties in power in the union government use the anti-corruption agency [Central Bureau of Investigation] to settle scores with their political rivals," he said. Mr Yadav's lawyers said they would challenge the charges in a higher court.

The minister's role has been investigated in seven of nearly 60 cases the CBI has filed in connection with the $143m fodder scam, a spokesman for the agency told the BBC.