CBI gets nod to prosecute Lalu Yadav in land-for-job scam

 New Delhi, Jan. 13: CBI has received sanction from the Centre to prosecute RJD chief and former Union railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in connection with the “land-for-job scam.” The agency filed the sanction before a special court on Friday, officials confirmed, adding that the approval from the competent authority was required for the court to take cognisance of the chargesheet and proceed for trial.

The move by CBI, which has successfully secured Lalu’s conviction in fodder scam-related cases, is sure to raise political tension in Bihar, where RJD is in office with Nitish Kumar’s JD(U). Interestingly, it was Nitish and his JD(U) colleagues who had earlier pushed for the prosecution of Lalu and his clan in the “land-for-job” scam.

Last October, CBI had filed a chargesheet against Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, daughter and Rajya Sabha member Misa Bharti, and 13 others in the case. Those chargesheeted include two former senior railway officials and seven candidates who allegedly “sold” their land to Yadav and his family in lieu of Group D jobs they got with the railways.

(PTI)