Delhi High Court has reserved its order on RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s petition seeking to quash the CBI FIR and chargesheets in the land-for-jobs case. Yadav has argued that the probe is invalid without prior sanction under the Prevention of Corruption Act
Former Union Railway Minister Lalu Yadav files petition for quashing FIR filed by CBI. File pic
The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved its order on a petition by RJD supremo and former Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav seeking the quashing of the FIR filed by the CBI in the land-for-jobs case.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and additional solicitor general S V Raju concluded their submissions before Justice Ravinder Dudeja on behalf of Yadav and the investigating agency, respectively, as reported by news agency PTI.
While filing the petition in the Delhi High Court, Lalu Yadav has sought the quashing of the FIR as well as the three chargesheets filed in 2022, 2023 and 2024 and the consequential orders of cognisance.
In his petition, he contended that the enquiry, FIR, as well as the investigation and subsequent chargesheets in the matter, were legally unsustainable in the absence of the prior sanction taken by CBI, as is mandatory under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, as per PTI.
Arguing on behalf of the former Railway Minister, Kapil Sibal emphasised that even as per the agency, Yadav acted in his "official" capacity as the minister for railways, and therefore sanction was needed to prosecute him for the acts allegedly done in "discharge of his official functions or duties".
On the contrary, Assistant Solicitor General SV Raju opposed the submissions and said that the sanction, in the manner claimed by the petitioner, was not required.
The court granted time to the CBI as well as Yadav to file their written submissions.
Assistant Solicitor General (ASG) Raju earlier had also argued that the power to take a decision or make a recommendation on appointments was with the general managers, and, therefore, there was no need to obtain prior sanction under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act to proceed against Yadav, as his conduct could not be said to be within the ambit of "discharge of his official functions or duties".
What is ‘land-for-jobs’ scam?
The 'land-for-jobs' case is related to Group D appointments made in the West Central Zone of the Indian Railways based in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. The appointments in Jabalpur were made during Lalu Prasad Yadav's tenure as the rail minister between 2004 and 2009 in return for land parcels gifted or transferred by the recruits in the name of the RJD supremo's family or associates, officials said.
As reported by news agency PTI, the case was registered on May 18, 2022, against Lalu Prasad Yadav and others, including his wife, two daughters, unidentified public officials and private persons.
The petition filed by Lalu Yadav also mentioned that the FIR was lodged in 2022, which is almost after a delay of 14 years, despite the CBI's initial enquiries and investigations being closed after the filing of a closure report before the competent court.
The petition filed by former Union Minister Lalu Yadav also mentioned, "The petitioner is being made to suffer through an illegal, motivated investigation, in clear violation of his fundamental right to a fair investigation. Both the initiation of the present enquiries and investigations are non est, as both have been initiated without a mandatory approval under Section 17A of the PC Act," as reported by news agency PTI.
It also added, "Without such approval, any enquiry/inquiry/investigation undertaken would be void ab initio. Section 17A of the PC Act provides a filter from vexatious litigation.
(With inputs from PTI)
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