Land-for-jobs case: President grants permission to prosecute Lalu Prasad Yadav

NEW DELHI: Paving the way for fast-tracking trial in the railways jobs-for-landmoney laundering case, President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday gave sanction to prosecute RJD chief and former railways minister Lalu Prasad.The Enforcement Directorate, which is investigating the case, had filed two prosecution complaints (chargesheets) on Jan 8 and Aug 6, 2024, accusing Lalu and associates of indulging in corruption and receiving alleged bribes in the form of lands from candidates who were offered jobs in the railways during 2004-09 when he was minister.Sources said that a special court in Delhi has already taken cognizance of both the chargesheets, and sanction from the President will allow for day-to-day hearing of the trial proceedings in the special court for MPs and MLAs.Those accused in the two chargesheets besides Lalu, include his wife Rabri Devi, son Tejashwi Yadav, daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav and close associate Amit Katyal, and two associated companies — AK Infosystems Pvt Ltd and AB Exports Pvt Ltd.ED's money laundering investigation is based on an FIR registered by CBI, which has already filed three chargesheets in the case. The sanction from the President will expedite trial of the accused in both CBI and ED cases simultaneously.In the chargesheets, the central agencies have alleged that Lalu, the then railways minister, indulged in corruption for appointment of Group D substitutes in the Indian Railways during 2004-2009."The candidates or their family members were told to transfer land as a bribe in return for jobs in the railways. These land parcels were directly/indirectly, registered in the name of family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav," CBI had said in its FIR, a charge validated by ED's own money laundering probe and evidence gathered through money trail of the proceeds of crime.ED had earlier claimed that its "investigation revealed that several pieces of land at prominent locations in Patna and other areas were illegally acquired by the family of the then minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav, in lieu of jobs provided in the railways. The current market value of these land parcels is more than Rs 200 crore".ED had also claimed after searches at 24 locations in Delhi, Patna, Mumbai and Ranchi on March 10, 2023 that documents seized during the raids revealed "proceeds of crime of Rs 600 crore" in the railways job ‘scam'. Tejashwi was questioned by the agency for related transactions worth Rs 250 crore which were allegedly routed through various ‘benamidars', some of them based in Mumbai and engaged in gems and jewellery business to allegedly help launder proceeds of crime.