CBI Accuses Railway Ministry Of Interfering In Land-For-Job Case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has claimed before a Delhi court that during Lalu Prasad's tenure as Railway Minister, the ministry exerted inordinate pressure to clear the job applications of Group-D candidates who allegedly gifted or transferred land parcels in the name of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's family or associates.

Special Judge Vishal Gogane was hearing arguments on charges in the alleged land-for-job scam, in which appointments were made in the railway's West Central zone, based in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, between 2004 and 2009, when Lalu Prasad was the railway minister.

During the proceedings on Monday, Special Public Prosecutor D P Singh underlined that all the applicants who had applied for the posts were from Bihar and they were mostly poor people for whom getting a government job would be beneficial.

Singh said that on a particular day, many applications were dealt with "promptly", while the process of clearing applications is generally "tedious".

"How did this happen so quickly? We have approvers who tell us that the pressure (from the ministry) was enormous. Most of the certificates were fake and were never verified. There was no need or justification given for appointing substitutes (to the posts). How could so many applications be decided so quickly?" the prosecutor said, as quoted by PTI.

According to CBI's chargesheet, the candidates directly or through their relatives, sold land to Lalu Prasad at highly discounted rates and that Lalu's family acquired over 1 lakh sq ft of land for only Rs 26 lakh as against the circle rate of more than Rs 4.39 crore. The arguments on charges will continue on Wednesday. The CBI registered the case on May 18, 2022 against Lalu Prasad and 15 others including his wife, two daughters and unidentified public servants and private persons.

(With PTI Inputs)