Land-for-job 'scam': Court adjourns order on cognisance of ED charge sheet against Lalu, Tejashwi

Special Judge Vishal Gogne deferred to September 7 the order on the prosecution complaint (ED's equivalent to a charge sheet), saying some clarifications were required

A Delhi court on Saturday adjourned its order on whether to take cognisance of a supplementary charge sheet filed by the ED against former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, his son Tejashwi Yadav, and eight others in the alleged land-for-job scam case.

Special Judge Vishal Gogne deferred to September 7 the order on the prosecution complaint (ED’s equivalent to a charge sheet), saying some clarifications were required.The supplementary charge sheet was filed before the court on August 6.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed its cases based on an FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation.Meanwhile, the court directed the federal agency to file the death certificate of a co-accused, Lallan Chaudhary.”A perusal of the supplementary complaint reveals that proposed additional accused no.10 (Lallan Chaudhary) is learnt to have expired.

Yet, no death certificate has been filed and only a report from the police authorities regarding the purported demise of Lallan Chaudhary has been filed,” the court said.”Since the matter is at the stage of considering the summoning of additional accused persons, the ED is directed to file the death certificate of accused No.10 (Lallan Chaudhary) by the next date,” it added.

The case pertains to Group-D appointments made in the West Central Zone of the railways based in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, during Lalu Prasad’s tenure as the railway minister from 2004 to 2009 in return for land parcels gifted or transferred by the recruits in the name of the RJD supremo’s family or associates, the ED said.