Lalu Prasad Yadav moves Supreme Court seeking a stay on trial court proceedings in CBI’s land-for-jobs case. He claims the case is an “abuse of law” and alleges “regime revenge” without proper legal sanction.
New Delhi: Today, on July 17, Former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav had approached the Supreme Court, challenging a lower court’s decision to not stay the ongoing trial in the CBI’s land-for-jobs case.
The matter is expected to come up for hearing before a bench comprising Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh on July 18.
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Earlier, on May 29, the Delhi High Court had refused to put a halt to the proceedings, stating that there was
“no compelling reason to stay the proceedings.”
However, it did issue a notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in response to Yadav’s plea for quashing the FIR and has scheduled the matter for hearing on August 12.
The case concerns appointments to Group D posts in the West Central Zone of Indian Railways, headquartered in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.
These appointments allegedly took place between 2004 and 2009 when Lalu Prasad Yadav was serving as the Union Railway Minister.
According to officials, the appointments were made in exchange for land parcels that were either gifted or transferred to Yadav’s family members or close associates.
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In his petition filed before the Delhi High Court, Yadav sought the cancellation of the FIR and three chargesheets that were filed by the CBI in 2022, 2023, and 2024. He also challenged the orders taking cognisance of these chargesheets.
The CBI registered the FIR on May 18, 2022, against Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife, two daughters, and several unnamed public servants and private individuals.
Yadav pointed out that there was an unexplained delay of almost 14 years in registering the FIR, even though earlier CBI inquiries into the same matter had concluded with closure reports filed before the competent court.
Yadav argued in his plea:
“Initiation of the fresh investigation in the concealment of the previous investigations and its closure reports is nothing but an abuse of the process of law.”
He further submitted that he was being subjected to an “illegal, motivated investigation” which was infringing on his constitutional right to a fair probe.
According to Yadav’s legal team, any inquiry or investigation in the present case required mandatory prior approval under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act).
He stated:
“Both, the initiation of the present enquiries and investigations are non est as both have been initiated without a mandatory approval under Section 17A of the PC Act. Without such approval, any enquiry/inquiry/investigation undertaken would be void ab initio.”
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Calling the investigation politically motivated, Yadav added:
“Regime revenge and political vendetta” had led to the revival of a closed case, and since no permission was taken under the law, “the entire proceedings since inception” were vitiated “with the being a jurisdictional error.”
The case continues to attract significant political and legal attention, and the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision may determine the future course of the trial.
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