Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti Gets Bail in Land-for-Job Scam

NEW DELHI: On March 15, a Delhi court granted bail to RJD leader and former union railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, as well as to his wife, the former chief minister of Bihar Rabri Devi, and their daughter, Misa Bharti. The conditions of the bail included a personal bond of 50,000 rupees and one surety of an equal value.

They appeared before the court in connection with a case related to the alleged land-for-job scam.

Around ten in the morning, Mr Prasad, 74, who recently had a kidney transplant arrived at the Rouse Avenue court in a wheelchair.

The case concerns alleged appointments made in the railways in exchange for land parcels given to or purchased by Mr Prasad's family while he served as the union railway minister from 2004 to 2009.

The CBI, in its charge sheet, alleged that irregular appointments were made in the railways, violating the laid down norms and procedures of Indian Railways for recruitment.

It was claimed that the candidates gave Mr Prasad, the leader of the RJD and the former railway minister, and his family land at deeply discounted prices—up to one-fifth of the going market rates—in exchange for favours.

Special judge Goel had on February 27 issued summons to the accused persons, including Mr Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti, and directed them to appear before the court on March 15.

The charge sheet and supporting documents indicated that offences under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy), read with Sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable securities, wills, etc.), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), and 471 (using a forged document as genuine) of the IPC and various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act had been committed, according to the summons that was issued.

The accused was an officer on special duty (OSD) to Lalu Prasad, who was handling the Railway Ministry at that time. 16 defendants were named in the charge sheet, which was submitted on October 10 of last year on charges of criminal conspiracy and corruption.

In the FIR, it was stated that several residents of Patna, Bihar, were employed as substitutes in Group-D posts during the period 2004–2009 in different zones of the railways located in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur, and Hajipur.

Later, those people—either by themselves or through their families—transferred their land into the names of Lalu Prasad's family and AK Infosystems Private Limited, a business that Prasad's family later acquired.

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