India
oi-Madhuri Adnal
A
Delhi
court
on
Monday
summoned
former
railway
minister
Lalu
Prasad,
his
wife
and
former
Bihar
chief
minister
Rabri
Devi
and
14
others
in
connection
with
the
alleged
land-for-job
scam.
The
case
relates
to
alleged
appointments
made
in
the
railways
in
return
for
land
parcels
gifted
or
sold
to
Prasad’s
family
when
he
was
the
minister
of
railways
between
2004
and
2009.
Special
judge
Geetanjali
Goel
directed
the
accused
persons
to
appear
before
the
court
on
March
15,
as
reported
by
PTI.
”A
perusal
of
the
charge
sheet
and
the
documents
and
material
on
record,
prima
facie,
shows
commission
of
offences
under
Section
120B
(criminal
conspiracy),
read
with
sections
420
(cheating),
467
(forgery
of
valuable
security,
will,
etc.),
468
(Forgery
for
purpose
of
cheating)
and
471
(using
forged
document
as
genuine)
of
the
IPC
and
various
sections
of
the
Prevention
of
Corruption
Act.
Accordingly,
cognizance
is
taken
of
the
said
offences,”
the
judge
said.
The
judge
noted
that
the
charge
sheet
was
filed
without
arrest
in
respect
of
the
accused
persons
except
one
who
is
on
bail
at
present.
In
July
2022,
the
CBI
arrested
Bhola
Yadav,
who
used
to
be
the
officer
on
special
duty
(OSD)
to
Lalu
Prasad
when
he
was
the
railway
minister,
in
the
case.
The
charge
sheet
was
filed
on
October
10
last
year
for
offences
of
criminal
conspiracy
and
corruption
against
16
accused
persons.
The
final
report
also
named
Prasad’s
daughter
Misa
Bharti,
former
general
manager
of
Central
Railway
Sowmya
Raghavan,
former
CPO
Railways
Kamal
Deep
Mainrai,
seven
aspirants
appointed
as
substitutes
and
four
private
individuals.
‘Mahagathbandhan’
cries
foul
over
CBI
reopening
case
against
Lalu
Prasad
Yadav
According
to
the
charge
sheet,
the
case
was
registered
pursuant
to
the
outcome
of
a
preliminary
enquiry
against
Lalu
Prasad
and
others.
It
was
alleged
in
the
FIR
that
some
persons,
although
residents
of
Patna
in
Bihar,
were
appointed
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
and
in
lieu
thereof,
the
individuals
themselves
or
their
family
members
transferred
their
land
in
the
name
of
family
members
of
Prasad
and
a
company,
AK
Infosystems
Private
Limited,
which
was
subsequently
taken
over
by
the
family
members
of
Prasad.
It
was
further
alleged
that
about
1,05,292
sq.
ft.
land
situated
in
Patna
was
acquired
by
the
family
members
of
Prasad
from
those
persons
through
five
sale
deeds
and
two
gift
deeds
and
in
most
of
the
sale
deeds,
payment
to
the
sellers
was
mentioned
to
be
paid
in
cash.
The
value
of
the
land
as
per
existing
circle
rate
was
about
Rs
4.39
crore.
The
land
which
was
directly
purchased
by
the
family
members
of
Prasad
from
the
sellers
at
a
rate
lower
than
the
prevalent
circle
rate.
The
prevalent
market
value
of
the
land
was
much
higher
than
the
circle
rate.
It
was
alleged
that
the
due
procedure
and
guidelines
issued
by
the
railway
authority
for
the
appointment
of
substitutes
was
not
followed
and
later
on,
their
services
had
also
been
regularised.
The
IRCTC
scam
case
refers
to
a
corruption
scandal
that
was
uncovered
in
2013
in
India,
involving
the
Indian
Railway
Catering
and
Tourism
Corporation
(IRCTC),
a
subsidiary
of
the
Indian
Railways.
The
case
involved
allegations
of
illegal
favoritism
and
corruption
in
the
process
of
awarding
contracts
to
private
companies
for
the
provision
of
catering
services
on
trains.