A Delhi court on Wednesday granted bail to former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi, along with their son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, who were arrested for their alleged involvement in the land for jobs scam in the Indian Railways.
The order was passed by Special CBI Judge Geetanjali Goel at the Rouse Avenue Courts.
Earlier on September 22, the Special CBI Court had issued summons to the three leaders of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and 14 others on a fresh charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on July 3.
The national agency had registered a case on May 18, 2022, alleging that Lalu Yadav, during his tenure as Union Railways Minister between 2004 and 2009, had made appointments in the Railways in exchange of land transferred to his family.
CBI claimed that the appointments made in the Railways were not in consonance with the standards and guidelines established by the Indian Railways for hiring.
The charge sheet further alleged that property was purchased in exchange for jobs in the Railways in the name of a private company. The said property was later brought under the ownership of family members of Lalu Prasad by way of transfer of shares at value much less than the market value of the property.
Earlier on September 22, Special Judge Goel had issued summons to Tejashwi, Lalu Prasad Yadav and 15 others, including former railway officials, for their alleged involvement in the land-for-job scam case.
The Special Judge had directed all 17 accused to appear before it on October 4.
The order was passed after the court took cognisance of the charge sheet filed in July this year against the 17 accused. This is the second charge sheet against Lalu and his family in the alleged land-for-jobs scam and the first one in the case to name Tejashwi as an accused.
On September 21, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) informed the Rouse Avenue Court that sanctions against three former Railway officials were also obtained from the concerned authority.
Special Public Prosecutor D.P. Singh informed the court and filed the Prosecution sanction obtained against three former officials.
Earlier, CBI had obtained sanctions against former Union Railway Minister Lalu from the Home Ministry in relation to a fresh charge sheet in the alleged land-for-job scam case.
According to the national agency, this was the second charge sheet in the designated court against the 17 accused, including former Union Minister of Railways, his wife and son, the then GM of West Central Railways (WCR), two CPOs of WCR, private persons and a private company in the land-for-job scam.
CBI had registered a case on May 18, 2022, against Lalu Prasad, his wife, two daughters, public servants and pPrivate persons.
The federal agency had alleged that Lalu Yadav, during the period between 2004 and 2009, had obtained pecuniary advantages in the form of transfer of landed property in the name of his family members, in lieu of the appointment of Substitutes in Group ‘D’ posts in different Zones of Railways.