Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court is likely to hear in July, the chargesheet against former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in connection with the land for jobs scam. The chargesheet against Yadav was filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday.
Upon conclusion of the investigation, the CBI submitted its third and final chargesheet before a special judge (MP/MLA Cases) against 78 accused, including Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi, son Tej Pratap Yadav who has been charge sheeted for the first time, daughter Hema Yadav, former OSD Bhola Yadav and one former staff member of the RJD chief.
Tej Pratap Yadav has been chargesheeted for the first time.
The CBI has invoked various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) related to criminal conspiracy along with cheating and forgery among others, and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act against the accused.
The list of accused included 29 Railways officials, 37 candidates and six other private persons.
During the investigation, the CBI found that Lalu Prasad, in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy along with officers of Railways, his family members and others, engaged candidates as Group D substitutes in 11 zones of Indian Railways in complete violation of the extant guidelines, a CBI spokesperson told news agency PTI.
He said this was done in return for the transfer of land by the candidate himself or his family members.
The candidates also submitted fake educational certificates to become eligible for these positions.
“Candidates who were engaged as substitutes in different zones of Railways were mainly from the districts which were the constituencies of then Union railway minister and his family members since long,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
On July 3 last year, the CBI had chargesheeted the then deputy chief minister of Bihar and Lalu Prasad’s son Tejashwi Yadav in the case.
The agency registered the case on May 18, 2022, against Lalu Prasad and 15 others including his wife, two daughters and unidentified public servants and private persons.
The CBI had filed the first charge sheet in the case in October 2022.
During the probe, the agency found a hard disk at 10 Circular Road, Patna, which was used by Lalu Prasad as his camp office. The hard disk contained a list of 1,458 candidates who were engaged in the Railways during his tenure, the agency had claimed.
Source Agencies
