Land-for-jobs: CBI names Bihar Dy CM Tejashwi Yadav as accused

In May last year, the CBI had filed an FIR against Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi, their daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, and 12 others, an official said. The first chargesheet was filed on October 7, naming them as accused.

The case pertains to alleged corruption during Lalu Prasad’s tenure as railway minister from 2004 to 2009 in the UPA-1 government. According to the CBI, at least eight people were given Group D jobs in the railways allegedly in lieu of land plots during this period. Lalu Prasad and his family allegedly acquired more than 1 lakh sqft of land for Rs 26 lakh, when its then cumulative market value was more than Rs 4.39 crore, according to the CBI.

“It was alleged that then Union Minister for Railways Lalu Prasad from 2004 to 2009 had obtained pecuniary advantages in the form of transfer of landed property in the name of his family members etc in lieu of appointment of Substitutes in Group D post in different zones of Railways,” said a CBI spokesperson in a statement.

“It was further alleged that in lieu thereof the Substitutes, who were residents of Patna themselves or through their family members, sold and gifted their land situated in Patna in favour of the family members of Lalu Prasad and a private company controlled by his family members, which was also involved in transfer of such immovable properties in the name of his family members,” the spokesperson alleged.

“It was also alleged 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 in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hazipur,” the spokesperson said.

Apart from Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi and Tejashwi, others named in the supplementary chargesheet are Maheep Kapur, former GM of West Central Railway (WCR); Manoj Pande, former CPO of WCR; Dr P L Bankar, former CPO of WCR; Dil Chand Kumar; Gyan Chand Rai; Hazari Rai; Mahesh Singh; Mohd Dhanif Ansari; Shatrudhan Rai; Vishwakarma Rai; Ashok Kumar Yadav; Ram Briksh Yadav; Rajnath Singh; and M/s A K Infosystems Pvt Ltd.

Searches were earlier conducted at multiple places, including in Delhi and Bihar, in connection with the case.

“During investigation, it was found that Lalu Prasad with intent to acquire the land parcels situated at the places where his family was already owning land parcels or the places which were already connected to him entered into the conspiracy with associates and family members. They allegedly derived a design to grab the land of various land owners by offering/providing Group D employment in Railways,” the CBI spokesperson said.

According to the probe agency, the accused allegedly collected applications and documents of such candidates through associates and then sent those to West Central Railway for processing and providing jobs. The General Managers of West Central Railways, “under the influence/control of the accused accorded approval” for engagement of candidates, the CBI alleged.

“Investigation has revealed that for providing jobs in the Railways, they allegedly devised an indirect way wherein the candidates were engaged firstly as Substitutes and subsequently were regularised. A hard disk containing lists of candidates (who were engaged) was also recovered during searches,” the CBI spokesperson said.

“It was further alleged that a land parcel was purchased in the name of a private company at Rs 10.83 lakh during 2007 and, subsequently, the land along with some other land parcels purchased by the company, were brought into the ownership/control of the wife and son of then Lalu Prasad by way of transfer of shares at Rs 1 lakh only,” the spokesperson said.

“At the time of transfer, the company was allegedly owning land parcels purchased at a total cost of Rs 1.77 crore and it was transferred for a mere Rs 1 lakh only….,” the spokesperson said. “Investigation is continuing. All the findings are based on the investigation done by the CBI and evidence collected by it.”

In January this year, the CBI had got a prosecution sanction from the central government against Lalu Prasad and submitted the sanction report before a Delhi court.