Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court on Wednesday granted bail to RJD chief Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and their son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav in the alleged land-for-job scam in the railways.
Special Judge Geetanjali Goel granted relief to the accused after they appeared before the court in pursuance of summons issued against them.
While granting bail, Goel noted that no accused was arrested in the matter by the CBI, and even the CBI did not oppose their bail petition. Previously on 22 September, the court summoned the accused after taking cognisance of the charge sheet filed against them and other accused, stating the evidence “prima facie” showed commission of various offences, including corruption, criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery.
On 3 July, the agency filed a charge sheet in connection with the alleged scam. Prasad is out on bail in this case as well as fodder scam cases. It was the second charge sheet filed by the CBI in the case but the first in which Tejashwi Yadav has been named as an accused.
However, according to officials, the case pertains to Group-D appointments made in West Central Zone of the railways based in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh during Lalu Prasad’s tenure as the railway minister from 2004 – 2009 in return for land parcels gifted or transferred by the recruits in the name of the RJD supremo’s family or associates.
On 18 May 2022, the agency registered the case against Prasad and 15 others including his wife, 2 daughters, and unidentified public servants and private persons. The CBI filed the first charge sheet in the case in October last year against Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi and others. It was related to appointments made in the Mumbai-headquartered Central Zone of the railways.
