Today, On 26th June, The Delhi High Court granted a six-week interim bail to Amit Katyal, a close aide of Lalu Prasad Yadav, in connection with the land-for-jobs scam. This scam involves allegations of exchanging land for employment in public sector undertakings. Katyal’s legal team argued for bail on health grounds.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court granted six-week interim bail to Amit Katyal, a close aide of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, on medical grounds in a money laundering case related to the alleged land-for-jobs scam in the Indian Railways.
Justice Dharmesh Sharma, presiding over a vacation bench, noted that Katyal’s dietary needs, following bariatric surgery, cannot be met within the jail premises and require proper diet for his physical, mental, and psychological well-being.
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The court remarked,
“The level of care, attention, minute-to-minute monitoring, and emergency response that the applicant requires cannot be provided at the jail currently. Furthermore, providing home-cooked food daily for an extended period presents several technical challenges at the jail premises.”
Instructing Katyal to provide a personal bond and a surety of Rs. 2.5 lakh each, the court ordered,
“The court is inclined to grant interim bail on medical grounds for a period of six weeks from the date of his release,”
The court also noted that a charge sheet has been filed against Katyal, who previously granted interim bail for about 84 days without any accusations of interfering with the investigation.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) argued that since the petitioner had already been granted interim bail on medical grounds for nearly 84 days, he should not be allowed to seek further bail on similar grounds repeatedly.
The ED further stated that if a special diet is necessary, it can be delivered to the jail premises through home-cooked food.
The investigative agency accused Amit Katyal of obtaining land from various railway job seekers on behalf of RJD chief and former railway minister Lalu Prasad.
The ED asserted that Katyal, serving as the director of AK Infosystems Private Limited, acquired land from these candidates “on behalf” of Lalu Prasad. Additionally, other members of Lalu Prasad‘s family implicated in the case.
The high court stated that Katyal’s medical condition, as detailed in the medical status report, “cannot be simply brushed aside,” given that he is a heart patient who recently underwent bariatric surgery and suffers from other ailments.
The high court then directed the director of AIIMS to immediately form a medical board of doctors from at least three different specialties related to Katyal’s reported ailments.
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Katyal arrested by the ED in November last year in a case originating from a CBI investigation into allegations that during RJD president Lalu Prasad’s tenure as railway minister, individuals given railway jobs in exchange for land parcels gifted or sold at low prices to his family members and associates.
Katyal and his company, AK Infosystems Private Limited, had long been under the scrutiny of the CBI and ED concerning the alleged scam. The ED discovered during its investigation that AK Infosystems received a land parcel from a relative of a candidate who was appointed as a Group D substitute in the Railways. In 2014, Katyal allegedly transferred ownership of his company to Lalu Prasad‘s family members.