'Land For Jobs' Case Against Lalu And Family; Delhi Court To Conduct Daily Hearings From Oct 13

New Delhi: Hearings in a money laundering case against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members in an alleged land-for-jobs scam will be heard on a day-to-day basis from October 13, a court in Delhi has ordered.

“The matter shall next be taken up on a day-to-day basis to address any concerns or objections raised by the accused relatable to section 207 Cr.PC… In order to ensure quick resolution of any probable grievance of the accused persons relating to non-supply of legible copies of the supplied documents, it is directed that the counsel for the ED and the respective counsels for the accused persons, along with the IO, shall be at liberty to inspect the original court record in the presence of the Ahlmad,” Special Judge (Prevention of Corruption Act) Vishal Gogne said.

The order came while issuing summons on the second supplementary chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which named seven additional accused.

The court directed the ED to file an amended memo of parties with appropriate renumbering of all accused persons. Copies of the supplementary complaint and sanction orders relating to A-8 (Lalu Prasad Yadav) were also ordered to be supplied to the accused already summoned.

The judge further directed the ED to provide both soft and hard copies of the list of unrelied documents within one week, while ensuring accused persons get legible copies of all relied-upon materials.

To address disputes on document quality, counsels for the accused were permitted to inspect original court records, obtain scanned copies, and even take photographs in the presence of the Ahlmad and ED officials.

On July 18, the Supreme Court had refused a plea by Lalu against an order refusing to stay the trial court’s proceedings against him in relation to the land for jobs scam. The SC had said that it would let the Delhi High Court decide the main issue of quashing the chargesheet.

The Delhi High Court had in May dismissed a plea filed by the former railway minister and chief minister of Bihar seeking quashing of the FIR, chargesheets and the cognisance taken by the trial court in connection with the land-for-job scam being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

In 2023 a Delhi court had granted bail to Lalu, his son Tejashwi Yadav, and his wife Rabri Devi in relation to a fresh CBI chargesheet in the alleged land-for-job scam case.

In July 2023, CBI had filed a chargesheet against them in connection with the alleged scam. It was the second chargesheet filed by CBI in the case. Besides the three members of the Yadav family, the CBI had also named 14 individuals and entities in the chargesheet. The accused have been charged under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The CBI’s case is that Lalu, as railway minister between 2004 and 2009, received financial benefits in form of transfer of land in the names of his family members in exchange for the appointment of substitutes in Group “D” posts in various railway zones such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Jaipur, Jabalpur, and Hajipur.

“In lieu thereof, the substitutes, who were residents of Patna themselves or through their family members sold and gifted their land situated at Patna in favor of the family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav and a private company controlled by family members, which was also involved in the transfer of such immovable properties in the name of family members,” the CBI alleged.