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Day after Rabri, Lalu quizzed by CBI in land-for-jobs case
The CBI on Tuesday questioned former Union railway minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad in connection with an alleged land-for-jobs scam.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday questioned former Union railway minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad in connection with an alleged land-for-jobs scam, a day after his wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi was quizzed in the same case, even as his family and Opposition parties alleged “constant harassment” and misuse of central probe agencies.
Lalu, Rabri, their daughter and Rajya Sabha MP Misa Bharti, and 13 others, have been named as accused in the case that pertains to allegedly taking land from 12 candidates in return for jobs in the Railways between 2004 and 2009. Lalu was the railway minister during this period.
According to people aware of the details, CBI questioned Lalu for around five hours, with a lunch break in between, at Misa’s Pandara Park residence in Delhi. Lalu, also a former Bihar chief minister, had in February returned from Singapore following a kidney transplant and is recovering at Misa’s residence since then.
A team of CBI sleuths arrived at Misa’s residence at around 10.45am and questioned Lalu till around 12.50pm. After a lunch break, they returned at around 2.20pm and left for the day at around 5.20pm.
Lalu was questioned over some documents and irregular appointments approved in the Railways in lieu of alleged bribes during this term as railway minister, a CBI officer said on condition of anonymity.
The questioning was recorded on video, and Misa was allowed to sit with Lalu during the session, the officer added.
“The questioning of Lalu Yadav and Rabri Devi has been done now to ascertain certain facts about the larger conspiracy and money trail,” the officer said.
Lalu’s daughter Rohini Acharya, who had donated a kidney to him, alleged that her father is being “constantly harassed” and warned the Centre of consequences if anything happened to him.
“Papa is constantly being harassed. I will not spare anyone if anything happens to him. You are troubling my father; it is not right. All this will be remembered. Time is powerful and has great power,” she tweeted.
“If my father undergoes any suffering because of all this, I will shake the chair in Delhi. Now the limit of enduring has passed,” she added.
On Monday, Rabri was questioned by CBI for five hours at her residence at 10, Circular Road in Patna. “They (the central government) will bother us a thousand times but we won’t bow down,” she told reporters after her questioning.
In September 2021, CBI launched a preliminary enquiry (PE) – a precursor to the FIR – in the matter amid allegations that various persons were appointed as substitutes in Group D posts in different zones of Indian Railways between 2004 and 2009, without following guidelines, in exchange of land by unknown public servants.
Group D refers to basic railway jobs with the lowest pay. The work involves maintenance of tracks, railway coaches, departments, stores etc,, and the work assigned depends on the post the candidate is selected for.
According to the federal agency, Lalu and his family overall acquired land measuring 105,292 square feet in Patna through seven deeds (five sale deeds and two gift deeds) at throwaway prices from 12 individuals.
CBI registered an FIR in the case on May 18 last year, naming Lalu, Rabri and their two daughters Misa and Hema Yadav. It also raided 16 locations, including the homes of Lalu and Misa at that time.
In its charge sheet later in October, the federal agency named 16 people in the case. Besides Lalu and his family, former general manager of Central Railways, Soumya Raghavan, former railways chief personnel officer Kamal Deep Mainrai, seven aspirants appointed as substitutes, and four private individuals, were named in the charge sheet. The agency did not include Hema Yadav’s name.
On February 27, a Delhi court issued summons and directed all accused to appear before it on March 15 in the case.
Lalu has already been convicted and sentenced in a number of fodder scam cases, and is currently out on bail.
Bihar deputy chief minister and Lalu’s younger son, Tejashwi Yadav, described CBI’s action a result of his family’s relentless opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“It is an open secret and probe agencies are acting against political opponents of the BJP and helping those who agree to align with that party,” he told reporters outside Bihar assembly on Monday.
The BJP, meanwhile, hit out at the Janata Dal (United) and RJD (the two are in an alliance in Bihar) over Lalu’s questioning.
“Lalu Prasad was convicted in four cases of four scams and appeal is pending in some cases. At that time, it was also alleged that the BJP people were making baseless allegations,” senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
Taking on Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, whose Janata Dal (United) called off its alliance with the BJP last year to join hands with the RJD in the state, Prasad said: “Nitish babu should stop calling himself the ‘Sushasan Babu’ of Bihar. The way he has pushed the state of Bihar towards deterioration, the people will soon teach him the lesson in reciprocation.”
JD(U) spokesperson Sunil Singh said “CBI’s behaviour in cases pertaining to opposition leaders is clearly questionable”. “The agency must behave in a transparent and unbiased manner failing which it may attract a dent on the credibility front,” he said.
“Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar continues his stand of zero tolerance against corruption. Mahagathbandhan 2.0 was fostered only after CBI failed to produce clinching evidence in the IRCTC scam,” he added.
