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A Delhi court on Saturday summoned former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, her two daughters Hema Yadav and Misa Bharti, along with other accused in a case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding the land for job scam, while taking cognizance of a chargesheet filed by the agency.
“The complaint prima facie disclosed the deriving or obtaining of multiple properties both at undervalued rates in lieu of government employment ….. The court finds sufficient material to take cognizance of the complaint and finds cogent grounds to issue summons”, said special judge Vishal Gogne.
The court has issued summons to all the accused and directed them to appear on February 9.
The federal probe agency had named Rabri Devi, her two daughters along with a former railway employee Hridayanand Chaudhary and Amit Katyal as accused. They had also named two companies, A. K. Infosystem and A. B. Exports, as accused in the chargesheet filed on January 9.
The charge sheet, filed by the agency, did not name either Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo and Rabri Devi’s husband Lalu Prasad Yadav or their son and Bihar’s deputy chief minister Tejaswi Yadav. Both have been named as accused in the predicate offence case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and have been released on bail in that case as they were charge sheeted without arrest.
ED had initiated a probe based on the case registered by CBI alleging that Lalu Prasad Yadav, the then rail minister, had sought land as bribes for jobs in Indian Railways during the period 2004 – 2009.
The agency has in its chargesheet alleged that A. K. Infosystems and A. B. Exports, the two companies named as accused in the land for jobs scam case, were formed to benefit Bihar’s former chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family.
“The purpose of forming these companies was to keep the ill-gotten money of Lalu Prasad Yadav and family, and Amit Katyal was the front man”, submitted special public prosecutor (SPP) Manish Jain on January 18, while taking the court through the chargesheet.
The agency alleged that the company, A. K. Infosystems, bought 11 land parcels and even though the book value of the assets was ₹1.89 crores, the entire company was transferred to the family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav for ₹1 lakh.
It claimed that the land parcels were bought in exchange for providing jobs in Group D categories in the Indian Railways and that they were acquired at strategic locations, adjacent to land that was already owned by the family members.
Referring to A. B. Exports, the agency alleged that the company was incorporated in 1996 and that in 2007, ₹ 5 crore were generated through sham transactions. It further alleged that the company was purchased by Tejaswi Yadav with the money that he received from Katyal.
The agency said that out of seven land parcels, which are being investigated in the predicate offence, three were owned by Devi, two by Hema Yadav, and one by Bharti.
It also pointed out that the proceeds of crime, which were generated by selling three land parcels of Devi and two of Hema Yadav to a company, ₹1 crore, was given to Tejaswi Yadav which was infused by him in A. B. Exports.
The federal agency arrested Katyal on November 11, 2023, in connection to the case and he is currently under judicial custody. His bail application is currently pending before the court.
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