Land-For-Jobs Scam: RJD chief Lalu Yadav, wife to appear before court today
In the ongoing hearing of lands for jobs scam case, RJD chief and former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, wife Rabri Devi along with other accused will appear before court on Wednesday
In the ongoing hearing of the Lands for job case, former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, wife Rabri Devi and 14 others are likely to appear before a Delhi court on Wednesday.
The court will proceed the hearing of the case related to alleged corruption in railway appointments. Candidates were asked to gift or sell land parcels to Lalu Prasad's family in return of their appointment in the railways during his tenure between 2004 and 2009.
In the CBI charge sheet, it was mentioned that Lalu Prasad and other accused were involved in the irregular appointments made in the railways. Those appointments violated the laid down norms and procedures of Indian Railways for recruitment.
The investigating agency, in its charge sheet, also alleged that as a quid pro quo, the candidates directly or through their immediate relatives and family members sold land to the family members of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, at a highly discounted rates.
Special judge Geetanjali Goel on February 27, issued summons to the accused persons, including Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti, and ordered them to appear before the court on Wednesday.
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As per the issued summon, the charge sheet and dcouments showed commission of offences under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy), read with sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using forged document as genuine) of the IPC and various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act.
Notably, the CBI arrested Bhola Yadav in July last year. The accused was an officer on the special duty (OSD) to Lalu Prasad who was handling the Railway Ministry at that time.
What did the charge sheet filed against Lalu Yadav say?
The charge sheet was filed on October 10 last year for offences of criminal conspiracy and corruption against 16 accused persons. In the FIR, it was alleged that some residents of Patna in Bihar were appointed as substitutes in Group-D posts during the period 2004-2009 in different zones of the railways located in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hajipur. Later, those individuals themselves or their family members transferred their land in the name of family members of Lalu Prasad and a company, AK Infosystems Private Limited, which was subsequently taken over by the family members of Prasad.
It was further alleged that about 1,05,292 square feet land situated in Patna was acquired by the family members of Prasad from those persons through five sale deeds and two gift deeds and in most of the sale deeds, payment to the sellers was mentioned to be paid in cash. The value of the land as per existing circle rate was about ₹4.39 crore, the CBI alleged.
(With inputs from PTI)