Land for job scam: Delhi court summons Lalu Prasad and wife Rabri Devi
New Delhi, February 27: On Monday, Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court issued summons against former Union Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi and 14 others in connection with alleged land-for-job-scam.
According to information, the cases related to the alleged appointment those were made in the railways in return for land as gifted or sold to former chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family. Lalu Prasad was then Union Minister of railways in 2004 and 2009. As per the direction of special judge Geetanjali Goel, the accused persons to appear before the court on March 15.
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"A perusal of the charge sheet and the documents and material on record, prima facie, shows 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 the Prevention of Corruption Act. Accordingly, cognizance is taken of the said offences," the judge said.
It was noted by judge Geetanjali Goel that the charge-sheet which was filed without the arrest, it was in respect of the accused persons except one who is on bail at present.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in July 2022 arrested Bhola Yadav, who was the officer on special duty (OSD) to former chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, in the case. The charge sheet was filed on October 10 last year for offences of criminal conspiracy and corruption against 16 accused persons.
The final report also named Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti, former general manager of Central Railway Sowmya Raghavan, former CPO Railways Kamal Deep Mainrai, seven aspirants appointed as substitutes and four private individuals.
According to the charge sheet, the case was registered pursuant to the outcome of a preliminary enquiry against Lalu Prasad and others.
It was alleged in the FIR that some persons, although 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 and in lieu thereof, the individuals themselves or their family members transferred their land in the name of family members of 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 sq. ft. 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 Rs 4.39 crore.
The land which was directly purchased by the family members of Prasad from the sellers at a rate lower than the prevalent circle rate. The prevalent market value of the land was much higher than the circle rate.
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- With inputs from agencies
