Delhi Court Grants Bail To RJD’s Lalu Prasad, Tejashwi Yadav In Land-For-Jobs Case

A Delhi court on Monday granted bail to Rashtriya Janata Dal head and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad, his sons Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav in a land-for-jobs case.

Special Judge Vishal Gogne of the Rouse Avenue Court granted the relief to the RJD leaders on a personal bond of ₹1 lakh each, noting that they were not arrested during the investigation.

The next hearing on the case is on October 25.

Lalu Prasad, Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav appeared before the Delhi court in pursuance to summons issued to them by the court earlier. The judge had issued the summons after taking cognisance of a supplementary charge sheet against the accused persons.

The final report was filed before the court by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on August 6.

The ED filed its case based on an FIR lodged by the CBI.

“They keep indulging in political conspiracy. They misuse agencies. There is nothing concrete in this case. Our victory is certain…,” Tejashwi Yadav said.

Tej Pratap is the sixth member of Lalu Prasad’s family, whose name has figured in the case. The other members, besides Lalu Prasad are former Bihar CM Rabri Devi, former deputy CM and leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav, and daughters, Lok Sabha MP Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav.

Other chargesheeted individuals who had been summoned include Akhileshwar Singh and his wife, Kiran Devi. The court also clarified that while Singh was made an accused by the ED, his wife Kiran was not initially charged.

Rabri Devi and other accused Misa, Heema Yadav and Hridayananda Chaudhary were granted regular bail in the ED case on March 7, this year while former deputy CM Tejashwi was granted bail by the court on October 4, 2023.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a supplementary chargesheet on August 6, listing 11 accused as Lallan Chaudhary, Hazari Rai, Dharmender Kumar, Akhileshwar Singh, Ravinder Kumar, Lal Babu Rai, Sonmatia Devi, Kishun Dev Rai, and Sanjay Rai.

What is the land-for-jobs case?

The land-for-jobs case pertains to Group-D appointments made in West Central Zone of the railways based in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, during Lalu Prasad’s tenure as 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.