Land-for-Jobs scam: Delhi court summons Lalu Prasad Yadav and others

Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court has issued summons to former Bihar CM & RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav and others accused including former railway officials to appear on October 4 before the court in land-for-jobs scam.

Notably, Lalu has already been convicted in five cases in connection with the fodder scam and was sentenced 14 years of jail. He is currently out on bail.

According to the sources, a Special Judge Geetanjali Goel took cognizance of a fresh chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and issued summons against all accused.

According to the CBI, this is second chargesheet in the designated court against 17 accused including the then Union Minister of Railways, his wife, son, then GM of West Central Railways (WCR), then two CPOs of WCR, private persons, private company, etc. in connection with the land-for-job scam.

CBI also said that no advertisement or any public notice was issued for such appointments of substitutes in Zonal Railways, yet the appointees who were residents of Patna were appointed as substitutes in different Zonal Railways located at Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hazipur.

What is land-for-jobs scam?

The land-for-jobs scam refers to alleged scam for the recruitment of ‘Group-D’ personnel during 2004-09. It is alleged that the appointments were made in exchange of land parcels during his tenure as railways minister. The FIR in connection with the case was registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on May 2022.

Besides Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejeshvi Yadav are also accused in the case.