On Monday, a Delhi court sent notices to former Union railway minister and RJD leader Lalu Prasad, his wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, their daughter Misa Bharti, and 13 other people in connection with an alleged land-for-jobs scam.
The above people were called to court on March 15 by Rouse Avenue Court special judge Geetanjali Goel. She did this after taking notice of a charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in October of last year.
In its charge sheet for the case, which was released on October 10, CBI named the above 16 people and said they took land from 12 candidates in exchange for jobs in the Railways when Lalu was railway minister from 2004 to 2009.
The charge sheet also names Lalu’s wife and daughter, as well as the former general manager of Central Railways, Soumya Raghavan, and the former chief personnel officer of Railways, Kamal Deep Mainrai. It also names seven people who were appointed as substitutes and four private people.
In May of last year, the federal agency named Hema Yadav as another daughter of Lalu. However, her name was not on the charge sheet.
“Looking at the charge sheet and the documents and other evidence on file, it seems likely that crimes were committed under section 120B (criminal conspiracy) read with sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable documents), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), and 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of the Indian Penal Code, as well as sections 8 (bribery of a public servant), 9 (bribery of a public servant by an organisation), So, these offences are taken into account,” the court said in its order.
“Send the accused a summons for March 15, 2023,” it said.
Mritunjay Tiwary, a spokesman for the RJD, said in response to the summons, “Lalu Prasad has always respected the court’s decision.” People in the country know that when the BJP is in a bad position, it turns to an investigation agency for help. There are consequences for the parties that speak out against the BJP. Lalu Prasad has become a symbol of how the opposition can work together, which is why he has been sent a notice.
We’re not scared; we’ll answer.”
“It is an old case,” Nikhil Anand, a spokesman for the state BJP, said in response to the claim. It is not true that the notice was sent out because the Grand Alliance is running Bihar. The way the leaders of the ruling party do politics and make statements is funny. They should respect the law and the court, keep their opinions to themselves, and not say bad things about the central agencies.
