New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday (October 7) granted bail to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his sons – Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav – in a money laundering case linked to the alleged land-for-jobs scam in the Indian Railways.
Court granted bail to the three on a personal bond of Rs one lakh each
Special Judge Vishal Gogne, while granting bail to Lalu Prasad Yadav and his sons, noted that they were not arrested during the investigation. The court granted them bail on a personal bond of Rs one lakh each.
Lalu Prasad Yadav and his sons appeared before the court the court in pursuance to summons issued to them in the money laundering case by the court earlier. The court had earlier had earlier issued summons to them after taking cognisance of a supplementary charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against them.
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Sufficient material available to proceed further against accused persons, court earlier said
The court earlier, while summoning Lalu Prasad and his sons, said that there is sufficient material available to proceed further against the accused persons in the money laundering case.
“In its prima facie view, it emerges that Lalu Yadav was in a position to facilitate public employment by virtue of his position,” the court had said while summoning Lalu Yadav, his sons and others.
Lalu Yadav’s eldest son Tej Pratap Yadav was summoned for the first time in the case
Tej Pratap Yadav, the eldest son of Lalu Prasad Yadav, was summoned for the first time in the case. He was not named as an accused in the supplementary charge sheet filed by the ED. The court, while summoning Tej Pratap Yadav, had said that possibility of him being an accused in the case cannot be ruled out.
“One of the land parcels in Patna was sold by both Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashvi Yadav to AK infosystems. Thus, the possibility of Tej Pratap Yadav’s involvement cannot be ruled out,” the court had said.
ED case stems from CBI FIR
The ED filed the final report before the court in the case on August 6. The case stems from a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). A case was registered by the CBI against the then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and others for entering into a criminal conspiracy to abuse his 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.
What are the allegations?
The ED has alleged that wrongful Group-D appointments were made during the tenure of Lalu Prasad Yadav as the 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.
