Land for job scam case: A Delhi court on Wednesday summoned former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, his sons Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Prasad Yadav along with others, in connection with the land-for-jobs money laundering case. Special Judge Vishal Gogne has directed the accused to appear before the court on October 7.
This is the first time Tej Pratap Yadav has been called in connection with this case. The court said that Tej Pratap Yadav's involvement could not be ruled out. Although he was not initially charge-sheeted, he was a director at AK Infosys Ltd and has now been summoned.
The judge passed the order after taking cognisance of a supplementary charge sheet against the accused. The final report was filed before the court by the ED on August 6. The central agency filed its case based on an FIR lodged by the CBI.
What is the case?
It is alleged that from 2004 to 2009, several people were appointed to Group D positions in various zones of the Indian Railways in return for land they transferred to the family members of Prasad, the then railway minister, and a linked company named AK Infosystems Private Limited.
Katyal was the director of this company when it acquired land from candidates "on behalf" of Lalu Prasad, the ED had earlier claimed in a statement.
The ED case, filed under the criminal sections of the PMLA, stems from a complaint lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav were granted bail by a trial court in October after the CBI filed a chargesheet against them in this case.
According to the CBI, no advertisement or public notice was issued for the appointment, but some residents of Patna were appointed as substitutes in different zonal railways in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hazipur. As a quid pro quo, the candidates, directly or through their immediate family members, allegedly sold land to Prasad's family members at highly discounted rates, up to one-fourth to one-fifth of the prevailing market rates, the CBI alleged.
(With agencies inputs)
