Face CBI on March 25 in Delhi, won’t be arrested: Delhi HC tells Tejashwi Yadav

Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma recorded the submission of the CBI counsel who said Tejashwi may appear physically this month and the agency is not going to arrest him in the alleged land for job case

The Delhi high court on Thursday asked Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav to appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on March 25 in the national Capital, after the agency told the court that it won’t arrest the legislator in the alleged land for job case.

Tejashwi had moved high court challenging the summons issued to him by CBI in the alleged land for jobs case. (Tejashwi Yadav | Facebook)

Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma recorded the submission of the CBI counsel DP Singh who said that Tejashwi may appear physically this month and the agency is not going to arrest him.

Following this, the counsel for Yadav said he will appear on March 25.

“We have said that CBI will not arrest him this month and he will appear at CBI headquarters,” the high court said in an oral order.

Tejashwi had moved high court challenging the summons issued to him by CBI in the alleged land for jobs case involving his father Lalu Prasad Yadav and other officials.

During the hearing, advocate Maninder Singh for Tejashwi told the court, the budget session of the Bihar assembly is ongoing and will end on April 5, only after which his client can come for questioning.

He further said that due to the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) raid a few days back, the condition of Yadav’s pregnant wife had deteriorated and she was admitted to the hospital.

The counsel also told the court that Yadav could join the interrogation over video conferencing and he will appear physically after April 5.

The CBI counsel insisted on Yadav’s personal appearance on any of the weekend and said the chargesheet is ready, the court said, “He is a minister... you can call him after April 5 once the session is over”.

Tejashwi’s counsel told the court that he has an apprehension that his client will be arrested when called by the agency as they had similarly done with another accused.

As the CBI counsel assured the court that the agency would not effect arrest, the court disposed off the plea and asked Yadav to appear on March 25.

The CBI has filed a chargesheet in the land-for-jobs case against Prasad, Rabri Devi and 14 others under charges of criminal conspiracy and provisions of the prevention of corruption act.

The agency has alleged that during Prasad’s tenure as the railway minister in the UPA government from 2004 to 2009, favourite candidates were appointed in the railways in violation of norms and procedures.

These appointments were allegedly made without any advertisement or public notice.

Some residents of Patna were appointed as substitutes in different zonal railways located in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hazipur, the CBI has alleged.

In his plea, Tejashwi said that the allegations in the present case is against his father Lalu Prasad Yadav and other officers, and he had no connection with the alleged offence as he was a minor then.

Tejashwi has skipped the CBI summons thrice after he was given notice to appear for questioning in the alleged case on February 28, March 4 and March 11 respectively.

In his plea, Tejashwi said the summons were in contravention of section 160 of the code of criminal procedure (CrPC) , which requires that a police officer can only summon a person being within the limits of his own or adjoining police station.

Besides seeking quashing of the summons, Tejashwi has also sought a direction to allow his lawyer to stay in visible distance from him, if not audible distance.