In a major blow to former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi have been summoned by Delhi's Rouse Avenue court. According to the news agency, the leaders were sent summon in the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) scam case.
Earlier in 2021, the Central Bureau of Investigation had closed the case against Yadav and his family members after it found "no concrete evidence that could prove the allegations". However, in December last year, CBI again reopened the corruption cases against the former chief minister.
According to the charge sheet, the Yadav was allegedly involved in providing jobs in lieu of land when he was the railway minister. The Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court summoned 14 accused, including their daughter Misa Bharti, on March 15.
Background
According to CBI, the 74-year-old leader had issued several key projects to Delhi Land & Finance (DLF)-- a commercial real estate developer-- when he was heading the Railway ministry in the UPA-1 government. The CBI alleged that the leader had received a property worth crores in South Delhi from DLF Group in exchange for several railway projects-- land lease projects in Mumbai's Bandra and the redevelopment of the New Delhi Railway Station.
Why Tejashwi Yadav is dragged into the corruption case?
As per the allegation levelled in 2018, the property was first bought by a DLF-funded shell company at Rs 5 crore. The probe agency alleged that the property was purchased at much lower than the then-market rate of Rs 30 crore. Later, the shell company was bought by Lalu's son Twjashwi Yadav for just Rs 4 lakh by a transfer of shares. Notably, Tejashwi is currently holding the post of Deputy Chief Minister in Bihar. Besides his son, the CBI had also named daughters Chanda Yadav and Ragini Yadav in the case.
Political turbulence in Bihar
It is expected that the latest development would create a major uproar in the land-locked state as the Opposition would further boost their claim that the BJP is using central agencies to take "political revenge".
