The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on June 7 filed a conclusive charge sheet against former Railways Minister Lalu Prasad and 77 other accused in the land for job case. This charge-sheeted accused also includes 38 candidates. The CBI informed the court that the sanction of competent authority is awaited.
Special CBI Judge Vishal Gogne has listed the matter on July 6 for consideration on the charge sheet.
Land for Job CBI case: The CBI has filed a conclusive charge sheet against Lalu Prasad Yadav and other accused in the case. This charge sheet has been filed against 78 accused including 38 candidates and other persons. CBI informed the court that the sanction of competent…
— ANI (@ANI) June 7, 2024
On May 29, the court directed CBI to file its conclusive charge sheet in the land for job case. The court also expressed its displeasure over the non-filing of a conclusive charge sheet despite giving time.
In this land for job scam, Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejaswi Yadav are arrayed as accused.
On October 4, 2023, the court granted bail to the former Railway Minister, Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Rabri Devi and others concerning a fresh chargesheet in the alleged Land-for-Job Scam case.
According to the CBI, the second chargesheet is against 17 accused, including the then Union Minister of Railways, his wife, son, then GM of West Central Railways (WCR), two CPOs of WCR, private persons, a private company etc in a case related to Land for Job Scam.
The CBI registered a case on May 18, 2022, against Lalu Prasad and others, including his wife, two daughters and unknown Public servants and Private persons.
It is alleged that the former Union Minister of Railways, during the period 2004-2009, had obtained pecuniary advantages in the form of transfer of landed property in the name of his family members, etc., instead of appointment of Substitutes in Group “D” Post in different Zones of Railways.
It was further claimed that in lieu thereof, the substitutes, who were residents of Patna themselves or through their family members, sold and gifted their land situated at Patna in favour of the family members of said Minister and a private company controlled by his family members, which was also involved in the transfer of such immovable properties in the name of said family members.
It was also alleged that no advertisement or any public notice was issued for such appointments of substitutes in Zonal Railways, yet the appointees who were residents of Patna were appointed as Substitutes in different Zonal Railways located at Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hazipur. Searches were conducted at multiple places, including Delhi and Bihar, according to CBI.
During the investigation, it was found that the then Union Minister of Railways, with intent to acquire land parcels situated at the places where his family already owned land parcels or the places that were already connected to him, entered into a conspiracy with associates and family members and allegedly derived a design to grab the land of various land owners by offering/providing group D employment in Railways, CBI said.
The accused had claimed that they had collected applications and documents of such candidates through associates and then sent those to West Central Railway for processing and providing jobs in Railways. The General Managers of West Central Railways, under the influence /control of the accused, accorded approval for the engagement of candidates.
For providing jobs in Railways, they allegedly devised an indirect way wherein the candidates were engaged firstly as Substitutes and subsequently, were regularised. A hard disk containing lists of candidates (who were engaged) was also recovered during searches. It was further alleged that a land parcel was purchased in the name of a private company at Rs 10.83 Lakh in 2007, and subsequently, the said land, along with some other land parcels purchased by the said company, were brought into the ownership/control of his wife and son of then Union Minister of Railways by way of transfer of shares at Rs one lakh.
At the time of transfer, the company allegedly owned land parcels purchased at a total cost of Rs 1.77 crore(approx) and it was transferred for a mere Rs 1 Lakh (approx) only, however, the market value of the lands was much more. Earlier, a chargesheet was filed on October 7, 2022, against 16 accused.
