New Delhi: Former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav along with his wife Rabri Devi, and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Misa Bharti reached Rouse Avenue Court on Wednesday, after being summoned by the court in the land-for-jobs scam case. Lalu Yadav could be seen entering the court premises in a wheelchair along with his wife (Rabri Devi) and daughter (Misa Bharti).
Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court had issued summons to Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti and 13 others, in connection to the case, while taking cognizance of the CBI Chargesheet filed against them.
Notably, while CBI has been questioning several members of Lalu Yadav's family, and ED has conducted several searches in connection with the case.
The ED team had on March 10, conducted a raid at the residence of the Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav in Delhi for over 11 hours. On March 10, Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at 24 locations at various places in Delhi NCR, Patna, Mumbai and Ranchi in the Railways land-for-job scams. The searches were conducted based on specific intelligence inputs.
The ED also conducted raids against many relatives of former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad at multiple locations across Delhi, the National Capital Region (NCR) and Bihar in the alleged land-for-jobs scam.
The CBI also summoned Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav in connection with the land-for-jobs case, however, Tejashwi skipped appearing before the probe agency due to his 'wife's ill-health'. On March 7, Lalu Yadav was grilled by CBI for nearly six years in two sessions at his residence in Pandara Park, Delhi.
On March 6, CBI questioned former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi in connection with the land-for-jobs case at the Pandara park residence of his daughter Rajya Sabha member Misa Bharti.
CBI in its chargesheet had stated that irregular appointments of candidates were made in Central Railway, violating the laid down norms and procedures of Indian Railways for recruitment. "As a quid-pro-quo, the candidates directly or through their immediate relatives/family members, sold land to the family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav (then Union Railway Minister) at highly discounted rates up to 1/4th to 1/5th of the prevailing market rates," stated CBI.
CBI further stated that investigation has revealed that Lalu Prasad Yadav during the period 2007-08. When he was Minister of Railways, Govt. of India with the intent to acquire the land parcels situated in Vill- Mahuabagh, Patna and Vill-Kunjwa, Patna which were situated adjacent to the land parcels already owned by his family members; entered into a criminal conspiracy with his wife Rabri Devi, daughter Misha Bharati, Officers of Central Railways namely Sowmya Raghvan the then General Manager, Kamal Deep Mainrai, the then Chief Personnel Officer, and residents of Vill-Mahjabagh, Patna and Vill-Bindaul, Bihta, Patna and Patna City namely Raj Kumar Singh, Mithlesh Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Sanjay Kumar, Dharmendra Kumar, Vikas Kumar, Abhishek Kumar, Ravindra Ray, Kiran Devi, Akhileshwar Singh, Ramashish Singh.
The Court while issuing summons to the accused stated, "After going through the charge sheet and the documents and material on record, prima facie shows the commission of offences under Section 120B read with Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 IPC and Sections 8, 9, 11, 12, 13 (2) read with Section 13 (1) (d) of PC Act, 1988 and substantive offences thereof. Accordingly, cognizance is taken of the said offences."
The alleged scam occurred when Yadav was Railway Minister between 2004 and 2009. Apart from the RJD leader, the chargesheet also includes the name of the then Railway General Manager. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed the chargesheet in October last year against Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti and 13 others. (ANI)
