Land-for-jobs case: CBI faces court’s displeasure for not filing conclusive charge sheet

Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court on Wednesday chided the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for not filing its conclusive charge sheet in the alleged land-for-jobs scam despite the court repeatedly giving it time.

“We are directing you to file the conclusive charge sheet. At times, the court has to use its power,” special CBI judge Vishal Gogne told the CBI, expressing his displeasure with the central agency for seeking time during every hearing.

Refusing CBI’s request, Justice Gogne directed the agency to file the conclusive charge sheet by June 7, the next date of hearing. In doing so, he also rejected request from the counsels of the parties to give a date for July.

“The counsels may join through video conferencing,” he said.

The CBI has been seeking time since the beginning of the year.

Ex-Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members are among the accused in the alleged scam. The case has reached the stage of scrutiny of documents filed, along with charge sheet against former Bihar chief minister Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi (also a former CM of the state) and their son Tejashwi Yadav, Bihar’s ex-deputy chief minister.

The case

The CBI’s main allegation is that Lalu Prasad Yadav, as the Union Minister of Railways during the period of 2004-2009, received “financial advantages” in the form of the transfer of landed property in the name of his family members, etc., in lieu of the appointment of “substitutes” in Group “D” posts in various zones of the Indian Railways. The beneficiaries, who were residents of Patna, sold their land situated in the Bihar capital to the Yadav family, and a private company controlled by the family.

In October last year, the court granted bail to Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Yadav, and others in relation to a fresh charge sheet in the case.

(With ANI inputs)