A Delhi court on Friday framed corruption charges and criminal conspiracy charges against former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, sons and daughter, in the alleged land-for-jobs scam, noting that Yadav used the railway ministry as his “personal fiefdom” to carry out a criminal enterprise when he was the Union minister.
Special Judge Vishal Gogne of Rouse Avenue Court, orally reading from the order, said, “A-1 (Lalu Prasad Yadav) used the railway ministry and the lands office as a personal fiefdom… Yadav and his close aides were operating as a criminal enterprise to usurp land”.
The court added that the chargesheet revealed an overarching conspiracy wherein public employment was used by Yadav as a bargaining chip to acquire lands favourably in the name of his family members, including sons Tejashwi and Tej Pratap Yadav, wife Rabri Devi and daughter Misa Bharti.
Meanwhile, the court went on to discharge 52 accused persons, which included Central Personnel Officers (CPOS), and all other substitutes who were not involved in parting land illegally.
Of the remaining accused, charges were framed against 41 persons, while five had passed away during the course of the court proceedings.
The case was lodged by the CBI in May 18, 2022, against Prasad and his kin, alleging that Prasad, during his tenure as the Union Railway Minister between 2004 and 2009, distributed group D jobs in different zones of railway in lieu of land parcels allegedly transferred by the candidates in the name of his family members and other close associates.
In its chargesheet filed before a Delhi court in 2023, the agency had named 78 accused persons, including 30 government officials associated with the Railway Ministry.
Based on the CBI’s case, the ED subsequently filed a money laundering case and submitted a chargesheet in 2024, naming Yadav and his family members among other accused, of acquiring illicit wealth through their alleged corrupt activities.
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