Delhi court orders framing of charges against Lalu Prasad, family in land-for-jobs scam

A Delhi court on Friday (January 9) ordered the framing of charges against RJD chief and former railway minister Lalu Prasad, his family members and others in the alleged land-for-jobs scam.

'Overarching conspiracy'

Special Judge Vishal Gogne said Lalu had treated the railway ministry as his personal fiefdom to run a criminal enterprise, in which public employment was allegedly used as a bargaining tool to acquire land parcels for the Yadav family, in collusion with railway officials and close aides.

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While orally delivering the substantive portion of the order, the judge said the CBI’s final report pointed to an “overarching conspiracy”, meeting the threshold of grave suspicion.

He also rejected the plea for discharge by the accused, including Lalu and his family members, as "unwarranted" underlining that the former railway minister and others were "operating as a criminal enterprise to usurp land."

'Abuse of decision'

The judge also highlighted the "abuse of decision" by railway officials. "Description of charge sheet constitutes the essentiality and core in the criminality as described," he said.

The court framed charges in the case against 41 persons, and discharged 52, which included railway officials and substitutes who did not part away with their land.

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Earlier, the CBI had submitted a verification report regarding the status of the accused in the case, saying out of the 103 accused named in its charge sheet, five died.

The court has posted the matter for formal framing of charges on January 23. A detailed order in the matter is awaited.

Land-for-jobs scam

The CBI filed chargesheets against Lalu, his wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, their son Tejashwi Yadav and others in connection with the alleged scam.

It alleged that appointments in the Group-D category of the West Central Zone of the Indian Railways based in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, were made during Lalu's tenure as the railway minister from 2004 to 2009 in return for land parcels gifted or transferred by the recruits in the names of the RJD supremo's family members or associates.

Also Read: Land-for-jobs case: Have sanctions to prosecute Lalu, CBI tells court

The CBI also claimed that the appointments were made in violation of norms and that the transactions involved benami properties, amounting to criminal misconduct and conspiracy.

The accused have denied the charges, claiming the case is politically motivated.

(With agency inputs)