ED’s supplementary charge sheet names Lalu, Tejashwi as accused in alleged scam
In its earlier charge sheet in January, ED named former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, her daughters Misa Bharti, a member of Parliament, and Hema Yadav as accused
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday filed its first 100-page supplementary charge sheet in a Delhi court naming former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, his son, and former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, and eight others as accused in the money laundering case related to the alleged land-for-jobs scam.
Special public prosecutor Manish Jain and advocate Ishaan Baisla informed the court that the charge sheet is accompanied by 96 relied-upon documents. Vishal Gogne, the special judge, listed the matter for hearing the arguments regarding consideration of the charge sheet on August 13.
In its earlier charge sheet filed in January, ED named former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, her daughters Misa Bharti, a member of Parliament, and Hema Yadav as well as businessman Amit Katyal and former railway employee Hridayanand Chaudhary as accused.
The ED initiated the probe in the case based on a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) first information report (FIR) alleging aspirants were allegedly told to transfer land as a bribe in return for jobs when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the railway minister from 2004- 2009. Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members were also named as accused in the CBI’s predicate offence case. The court granted them bail in the CBI case, saying they should not be arrested before the charge sheet was filed.
The ED arrested Katyal in November 2023. He has been under judicial custody since. Katyal’s bail plea is pending before the Delhi high court.
ED has claimed that A K Infosystems and A B Exports, the two companies named as accused in the alleged scam, were formed to benefit the Yadav family. It alleged the company A K Infosystems bought 11 land parcels. The agency said the value of the firm’s assets was ₹1.89 crores but was transferred to the Yadav family members for ₹1 lakh. It claimed the land parcels were bought in exchange for providing jobs in Group D categories in the railways and that they were acquired at locations adjacent to land that the family members owned.
ED said A B Exports generated ₹5 crore through sham transactions. It alleged that Tejaswi Yadav purchased the company with the money received from Katyal. ED pointed out that the alleged proceeds of crime generated by selling three land parcels of Devi and two of Hema Yadav to a company, ₹1 crore was given to Tejaswi Yadav and it infused in A B Exports.
