Lalu Prasad Yadav granted bail in land for jobs case

Former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad after his bail hearing at Rouse Avenue Court. (Express)

The court granted them bail considering the fact they were “charge sheeted without arrest” and there would “be no need for arrest at the instance of the Court.”

“Supreme Court categorically held that in the case where the accused is either not arrested consciously by the prosecution or arrested and enlarged on bail, there is no need for further arrest at the instance of the Court i.e. where the investigating agency has not exercised the power of arrest, there is no need for further arrest at the instance of the Court,” the court said.

The three accused were represented by their lawyers Senior Advocate Maninder Singh and Akhilesh Singh. They argued that the “accused persons were not arrested during the investigation and charge-sheet has been filed without arrest.”

Lalu and his family allegedly acquired over 1 lakh sq ft of land for just Rs 26 lakh, when the then cumulative market value was over Rs 4.39 crore. (Express)

According to the CBI, at least eight people were given Group D jobs in the Railways in lieu of plots of land at the time. Lalu and his family allegedly acquired over 1 lakh sq ft of land for just Rs 26 lakh, when the then cumulative market value was over Rs 4.39 crore.

In May last year, the CBI had booked Lalu and his family members in a fresh case of corruption. It had named 16 people, including Lalu, Rabri and daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, as accused.

The agency noted that out of the seven land sale deeds, three were executed in favour of Rabri, one was in the name of Misa, one in favour of M/s AK Infosystems — Rabri purchased the majority of shares of this company in 2014 — and two gift deeds in favour of Hema.