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Delhi court summons Lalu, Tejashwi and others in alleged land-for-job scam
Special judge Geetanjali Goel, while taking cognizance of a fresh charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on July 3, passed the order issuing summons to all the accused asking them to appear before it on October 4
A Delhi court on Friday issued summons to Bihar deputy chief minister Tejaswi Yadav, former Union railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, ex-chief minister Rabri Devi and 14 other accused in the alleged land-for-job scam, said officials familiar with the matter.
Special judge Geetanjali Goel, while taking cognizance of a fresh charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on July 3, passed the order issuing summons to all the accused asking them to appear before it on October 4, officials said.
The CBI had on July 3 filed a charge sheet naming Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Yadav, and 14 others in the alleged land-for-jobs scam.
The agency had on the same day informed the court that sanctions would be required to prosecute Lalu, and three railway officials – Maheep Kapur, Manoj Pande, and PL Bankar.
On Thursday, the CBI informed the court that they had received sanctions to prosecute Kapur, Pande and Bankar, earlier this week.
The agency had earlier informed the court that the sanction to prosecute Lalu was also received from the ministry of home affairs earlier this month.
However, sanctions were not required to prosecute Tejaswi, who has been named as an accused in the charge sheet, as he was not a public servant during 2004-2009.
The Delhi court listed the matter on October 4 when all the accused are to appear before the court pursuant to the summons issued.
The alleged scam pertains to the period when the RJD chief was the railway minister in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
The CBI has alleged that between 2004 and 2009, several people were appointed to Group D positions in various zones of Indian Railways, who transferred their land to the family members of the then railway minister.
The Yadav family has denied the allegations, accusing the misuse of central agencies by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government.
The court is hearing the case in which the CBI has alleged that the then Union minister, during 2004-2009, had obtained pecuniary advantages in the form of the transfer of property in the name of his family members in exchange for the appointment of various persons in group D post in different zones of Indian Railways without any advertisement or public notice for such appointments.
According to the CBI, no advertisement or public notice was issued for the appointment but some Patna residents were appointed as substitutes in different zonal railways at Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hajipur.
As part of quid pro quo, the candidates, directly or through their immediate family members, allegedly sold land to the family members of Prasad at highly discounted rates, up to one-fourth to one-fifth of the prevailing market rates, the CBI had alleged.
The agency had registered a case on 18 May 2022, alleging that the property was purchased, in exchange for the jobs, in the name of a private company and it was later brought under the ownership of the family members by way of transfer of shares at a value much less than the market value.
It has been submitted by the CBI that the alleged case in the charge sheet filed on July 3 was regarding the appointments made in the West Central Zone of the Indian Railways while the earlier charge sheet filed on 7 October 2022, pertained to the appointments made in the central zone.
The court took cognizance of the first charge sheet filed on February 27, issuing summons to all the accused. It later granted bail to all the accused by an order passed on March 15 while noting that the CBI had filed the charge sheet without any arrest.
