Delhi Court frames charges in land-for-job case: 'Lalu and his family acted as criminal syndicate'

The CBI filed charge sheets against Lalu Yadav, his wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, their son Tejashwi Yadav and others

• Delhi court orders charges against Lalu Yadav, family in land-for-job scam
• Court finds conspiracy to use railway jobs for land acquisition by Yadav family
• Charges framed against 41, including Lalu, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi; 52 discharged

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A Delhi court on Friday ordered framing of charges against RJD chief and former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, his family members and others in the alleged land-for-job scam.

Special Judge Vishal Gogne said Yadav used the railway ministry as his personal fiefdom in order to carry out a criminal enterprise where public employment was used as a bargaining chip to acquire land parcels by the Yadav family in connivance with railway officials and his close aides.

Gogne  said Yadav and his family acted as a criminal syndicate and there was overarching conspiracy on their part. “The court finds on the touchstone of suspicion that there existed an overarching conspiracy by Lalu Prasad Yadav towards using public employment as a bargaining chip for receiving immovable properties for his family (daughters, wife and sons),” the judge said while pronouncing the order as qutoed by Live Law.

The court framed charges in the case against 41 persons, and discharged 52, which included railway officials.

Earlier, the CBI had submitted a verification report regarding the status of accused persons in the case, saying out of the 103 accused named in its charge sheet, five died.

The court has posted the matter for formal framing of charges on January 23.

The CBI filed charge sheets against Lalu Yadav, his wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, their son Tejashwi Yadav and others in connection with the alleged scam.

It alleged that appointments in the Group-D category of the West Central Zone of the Indian Railways based in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, were made during Lalu Yadav's tenure as the railway minister from 2004 to 2009 in return for land parcels gifted or transferred by the recruits in the names of the RJD supremo's family members or associates.

The CBI also claimed that the appointments were made in violation of norms and that the transactions involved benami properties, amounting to criminal misconduct and conspiracy.

The accused have denied the charges, claiming the case is politically motivated.