Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his sons Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav were granted bail on Monday in a money laundering case linked to the alleged land-for-jobs scam, reported The Indian Express.
The case pertains to allegations that as the Union railway minister between 2004 and 2009, Lalu Prasad Yadav took land from job aspirants in return for employment in the West Central Zone of the railways based in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur.
In January, the Enforcement Directorate filed a chargesheet in the case before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court in Delhi. The 4,751-page chargesheet also implicated Lalu Prasad Yadav’s wife Rabri Devi and his daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav.
On Monday, Special Judge Vishal Gogne granted bail to Lalu Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each, noting that they were not arrested during the investigation, reported PTI.
The matter will be heard next on October 25, according to Bar and Bench.
The money laundering case in the scam stems from a complaint registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2022.
In the chargesheet filed in January, the Enforcement Directorate alleged that Devi and Hema Yadav sold four land parcels illegally acquired from appointees in the Railways to Meridian Construction India, a company related to former Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA Syed Abu Dojana.
It alleged that the “proceeds of crime” obtained by Devi and Hema Yadav were transferred through a maze of transactions to companies related to the Yadav family, reported PTI.
In June, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed its final chargesheet in the matter against 78 persons.
The investigating agency had named 29 railway officials, 37 candidates and six other private persons in the chargesheet.
“During the investigation, it has been found that the accused in conspiracy with the railway officials and engaged persons as ‘substitutes’ in lieu of land either in their name or in the name of their close relatives,” said an unidentified official of the central agency. “This land was acquired at prices lower than the prevailing circle rate and much lower than the market rate.”
No public notice or advertisement was issued for these appointments, the official said. However, candidates from Patna were employed in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hajipur, the official added.
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