According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Lalu Prasad Yadav, a former Chief Minister of Bihar and former Railways Minister, is expected to be questioned concerning the land-for-jobs issue.
“A few days ago, CBI had notified former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Yadav concerning the land-for-job case. CBI is likely to question Lalu Yadav soon,” a CBI official told ANI on March 6.
In connection with the suspected crime, CBI investigators visited Rabri Devi, a former Chief Minister of Bihar, at her Patna home earlier in the morning.
The CBI filed the chargesheet against former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi, their daughter Misa Bharti, and 13 others in the land-for-jobs scam in October 2022.
According to the charge sheet, it was discovered during the inquiry that the accused, together with the then-GM Central Railways and CPO, conspired to have people used as replacements for land in their name or the name of their close relatives.
This land was acquired at prices lower than the prevailing circle rate and much lower than the market rate. It was also alleged that the candidates had used false TC and submitted false attested documents to the Ministry of Railways, said the CBI statement.
The alleged scam occurred between 2004 and 2009 when Lalu Yadav was the Railway Minister. Apart from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief, the chargesheet also includes the name of the then Railway General Manager.
CBI stated that the investigation had revealed that the candidates were considered for their engagement without any need for substitutes, and there was no urgency for their appointment, which was one of the main criteria behind the engagement of substitutes. They joined their duties much later from the approval of their appointment, and they were subsequently regularised.
Several anomalies were found in the applications of the candidates and the enclosed documents, due to which the applications should not have been processed, and their engagement should not have been approved, but it was done.
Moreover, in most instances, the candidates started their work in their respective divisions on many later dates, defeating the objective of the appointment of Substitutes. In other circumstances, the applicants could not pass their medical examination within the requisite category to which their engagement was made. They were afterwards considered and appointed the posts where inferior/lower medical category was needed, according to the CBI.
Recently, on February 27, the Delhi Rouse Avenue Court issued summonses against Lalu, his wife Rabri Devi, and 14 other people in relation to an alleged land-for-job scam while taking cognisance of the CBI chargesheet.
(With inputs from ANI)
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