Land-for-job scam case: Delhi court summons Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Yadav

A Delhi court on Friday, 22 September summoned RJD chief Lalu Prasad, his wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, and their son and current Deputy Chief Minister of the state Tejasvi Yadav in a case related to an alleged land-for-job scam in the railways.

Special Judge Geetanjali Goel took cognisance of the charge sheet filed against them and other accused, and said the evidence “prima facie” showed commission of various offences, including corruption, criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery.

Noting that the charge sheet was filed without the arrest of the accused, the judge issued summons, asking them to appear before it on 4 October .

“A perusal of the charge sheet and the documents and material on record, prima facie shows commission of offences under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with Sections 420 (cheating) and 471 (forgery of documents) of IPC and relevant Sections of Prevention of Corruption Act, and substantive offences thereof. Accordingly, cognizance is taken of the said offences,” the judge said.

The CBI recently informed the court that the requisite sanction to prosecute Prasad, a former railway minister, has been obtained from the competent authorities.

The agency had on 3 July filed a charge sheet in connection with the alleged scam.

Prasad is out on bail in this case as well as fodder scam cases.

It was the second charge sheet filed by the CBI in the case but first in which Tejashwi Yadav has been named as an accused.

Besides the three members of the family, the federal agency has also named 14 individuals and entities in the charge sheet.

The case pertains to Group-D appointments made in West Central Zone of the railways based in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh during Lalu Prasad's tenure as the railway minister from 2004 to 2009 in return for land parcels gifted or transferred by the recruits in the name of the RJD supremo's family or associates, according to officials.

The agency registered the case on 18 May, 2022 against Prasad and 15 others including his wife, two daughters, and unidentified public servants and private persons.

The CBI had filed the first charge sheet in the case in October last year against Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi and others. It related to appointments made in the Mumbai-headquartered Central Zone of the railways.

The second charge sheet came days after over a dozen opposition parties, including Lalu Prasad's RJD, resolved to take on the BJP unitedly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections at a meeting in Patna on 23 June.