HC issues notice to CBI, restrains agency from examining approvers as Yadav family challenges corruption charges
The legal battle over the land-for-jobs scam escalated on Wednesday when the Delhi High Court issued notice to the CBI on a petition filed by RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, challenging a trial court’s decision to frame corruption and criminal conspiracy charges against him and four family members wife Rabri Devi, sons Tejashwi and Tej Pratap, and daughter Misa Bharti.
Justice Manoj Jain’s bench delivered an immediate tactical win to Yadav’s camp, restraining the CBI from examining its approvers until the petition is fully heard a significant procedural brake on the agency’s case. The next hearing is fixed for March 17.
The trial court had earlier described Yadav’s tenure as Union Railway Minister between 2004 and 2009 as the running of a “personal fiefdom” where Group D railway jobs were allegedly bartered for land parcels transferred to family members.
Yadav’s senior counsel Kapil Sibal and Maninder Singh punched back, arguing the prosecution’s case rests entirely on approver testimony, with no complainants among the actual job recipients, and that Yadav had no direct role in Group D recruitment.
The CBI registered the case in May 2022. Its 2023 chargesheet named 78 accused, including 30 railway ministry officials.
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