land-for-job scam case: Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi to appear before Delhi court on March 15

Former railway minister Lalu Prasad his wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi and 14 others are likely to appear before a Delhi court on Wednesday in connection with a case related to the alleged landforjob scamThe case relates to alleged appointments made in the railways in return for land parcels gifted or sold to Prasads family when he was the minister of railways between 2004 and 2009The CBI in its charge sheet alleged that irregular appointments were made in the railways violating the laid down norms and procedures of Indian Railways for recruitmentIt alleged that as a quid pro quo the candidates directly or through their immediate relatives and family members sold land to the family members of RJD chief Prasad then railway minister at highly discounted rates up to onefifth of the prevailing market ratesSpecial judge Geetanjali Goel had on February 27 issued summons to the accused persons including Prasads daughter Misa Bharti and directed them to appear before the court on March 15A perusal of the charge sheet and the documents and material on record prima facie shows commission of offences under Section 120B criminal conspiracy read with sections 420 cheating 467 forgery of valuable security will etc 468 forgery for purpose of cheating and 471 using forged document as genuine of the IPC and various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act Accordingly cognizance is taken of the said offences the judge had saidThe judge had noted that the charge sheet was filed without arrest in respect of the accused persons except one who is on bail at present In July 2022 the CBI arrested Bhola Yadav who used to be the officer on special duty OSD to Lalu Prasad when he was the railway minister in the caseAlso read Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA seeks withdrawal of general consent to Central Bureau of Investigation in BiharThe charge sheet was filed on October 10 last year for offences of criminal conspiracy and corruption against 16 accused persons The final report also named former general manager of Central Railway Sowmya Raghavan former CPO Railways Kamal Deep Mainrai seven aspirants appointed as substitutes and four private individualsAccording to the charge sheet the case was registered pursuant to the outcome of a preliminary inquiry against Lalu Prasad and othersIt was alleged in the FIR that some persons although residents of Patna in Bihar were appointed as substitutes in GroupD posts during the period 20042009 in different zones of the railways located in Mumbai Jabalpur Kolkata Jaipur and Hajipur and in lieu thereof the individuals themselves or their family members transferred their land in the name of family members of Prasad and a company AK Infosystems Private Limited which was subsequently taken over by the family members of PrasadIt was further alleged that about 105292 square feet land situated in Patna was acquired by the family members of Prasad from those persons through five sale deeds and two gift deeds and in most of the sale deeds payment to the sellers was mentioned to be paid in cash The value of the land as per existing circle rate was about Rs 439 crore the CBI allegedThe land was directly purchased by the family members of Prasad from the sellers at a rate lower than the prevalent circle rate the CBI said adding that the prevalent market value of the land was much higher than the circle rateIt was alleged that the due procedure and guidelines issued by the railway authority for the appointment of substitutes were not followed and later on their services had also been regularisedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever