New Delhi: A city court on Wednesday (September 18) summoned former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Prasad, his politician sons Tej Pratap Yadav, who has been summoned in the case for the first time, Tejashwi Yadav and others in a money laundering case linked to the alleged land-for-jobs scam in the Indian Railways.
Special Judge Vishal Gogne took cognisance of a supplementary charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the accused persons and directed them to appear before the court on October 7.
Sufficient material available to proceed further against accused persons: Court
The court, while summoning the accused persons, said that in its prima facie view, it emerges that Lalu Prasad Yadav was in a position to facilitate public employment by virtue of his position and there is sufficient material available to proceed further against the accused persons in the case.
Lalu Yadav’s eldest son Tej Pratap Yadav has been summoned for the first time in the case
Tej Pratap Yadav, the eldest son of Lalu Prasad Yadav, has been summoned for the first time in the case. He was not named as an accused in the supplementary charge sheet. The court, while summoning Tej Pratap Yadav, said that possibility of him being an accused in the case cannot be ruled out.
The ED filed the final report before the court in the case, which stems from a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on August 6.
What are the allegations?
As per the ED, wrongful Group-D appointments were made during Lalu Prasad Yadav’s tenure as Railway Minister during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime between 2004-2009 in return for land parcels gifted or transferred by the recruits in the name of the family members or associates of Lalu Prasad Yadav.
ED case stems from CBI FIR
The CBI registered the case against the then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and others for entering into a criminal conspiracy to abuse official position in order to obtain pecuniary benefits in the form of land parcels being transferred to his family members and companies in return for appointment to the post of substitute (Group-D) under the various zones of the Indian Railways. As per the CBI, seven land parcel measuring about 1,05,292 sq. feet land situated at Patna were acquired by the family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav through five sale deeds and two gift deeds.