During a hearing of the land for jobs scam case in the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi on Wednesday (4th June), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) made some shocking submissions against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav who is an accused in the case.
Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) DP Singh, appearing for the CBI, said before Special Judge Vishal Gogne that during his tenure as the Railway Minister under the UPA-I government between 2004 and 2009, Lalu Prasad Yadav exploited job aspirants from underprivileged backgrounds by giving them Group-D jobs in railway in exchange for their lands. The central agency said that these job aspirants transferred their lands to Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members at extremely lower prices in exchange for jobs. Notably, all the transactions were done using cash to avoid scrutiny.
Job aspirants had forged documents: CBI
The SPP highlighted that the job aspirants were primarily from Bihar and owned land that the Yadav family found beneficial. “We have a clear cash trail. These people were seeking government jobs and were willing to part with their land in return,” said Singh. The agency further said that no public notice or advertisement was issued before making these appointments. It pointed out before the court that many approvers had confirmed that there was “enormous pressure from the top” of the Ministry to approve these appointments.
The CBI counsel said that many candidates out of those selected for appointments could not even write their names and had forged their documents. He said that a school existed for the sole purpose of issuing forged certificates. “As quid pro quo candidates directly or through their relatives sold lands to Lalu Prasad Yadav on highly discounted rates,” Singh said.
Pointing out the irregularities in the appointment process, the SPP said that so many candidates were selected for the jobs in one single day. “It is a tedious process, yet multiple applications were cleared at lightning speed. There was neither an advertisement nor any emergency justifying such mass hiring,” Singh added.
The CBI Counsel also said that the jobs were given as substitutes, a category normally reserved for temporary replacements in the absence of regular employees. “There’s no justification for hiring so many substitutes so quickly,” Singh said.
Even illiterates were given Railway jobs
Central Bureau of Investigation told the Delhi Court that those who couldn’t even write their own names were given Railway jobs during Lalu Prasad Yadav’s tenure as the Railway Minister. CBI says that these people were given Group-D jobs in the Indian Railways after gifting land parcels to former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family.
These fraudulent appointments in question were allegedly made in the West Central Zone of the Railways, based in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, between 2004 and 2009.
3 chargesheets filed in the case
An FIR was registered in the case in May 2022 against Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi, sons Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav, and daughter Hema Yadav. Over 80 other persons, including public servants and private persons associated with the Railway Ministry, were also named in the FIR for allegedly facilitating illegal appointments in various railway zones.
Three chargesheets have been filed by the CBI in the case so far. The first chargesheet was filed on October 7, 2022, after which 16 accused were summoned. This was followed by a second chargesheet filed on March 27, 2024, and summoning of 17 individuals including Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son Tej Pratap Yadav. The RJD chief, his family members and 78 other accused, including 30 government officials, were summoned when the last chargesheet was filed by the CBI on June 7, 2024. However, all of them were granted bail on a bond of ₹50,000 each.
