New Delhi: A city court in New Delhi granted interim bail to former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi and her daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav until February 28 in connection with the alleged Railways land-for-job case. The trio had filed a plea seeking regular bail, with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) informing the court of its need for additional time to prepare arguments on the regular bail plea of Rabri Devi and her daughter.
Special Judge Vishal Gogne granted interim bail to the three until February 28 following the ED's submission. During the hearing, the court questioned the necessity for the ED's custody of the accused, considering they had not been arrested during the investigation. Rabri Devi and her daughters appeared before the court as directed on February 9 after the court had taken cognizance of a chargesheet filed by the ED in the money laundering case linked to the land-for-jobs issue. The court noted sufficient grounds to proceed against them.
Furthermore, the court issued a production warrant against businessman Amit Katyal, described as a close associate of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's family. Katyal was arrested by the ED in November last year and recently granted one-month interim bail on health grounds.In its chargesheet, the ED named Rabri Devi, her MP daughter Misa Bharti, and others, along with Katyal and Hridayanand Chaudhary, a railway employee alleged to have benefited from the scheme. Two firms – AK Infosystems Pvt. Ltd. and AB Exports Pvt. Ltd., along with their common director Shariqul Bari, were also named in the ED's charge sheet.
Recently, the ED questioned former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his son, former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, in connection with the case. The alleged railways land-for-jobs scam dates back to the period when Lalu Prasad Yadav served as the union railway minister during the first tenure of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) from 2004 to 2009. Authorities allege that several individuals were appointed to Group “D” positions in various zones of the Indian Railways between 2004 and 2009, allegedly transferring their land to Lalu Prasad Yadav's family members or a linked company named AK Infosystems Private Limited in exchange for their appointments.
The money laundering case originated from a complaint lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), alleging that candidates seeking jobs in the Railways sold their lands at highly discounted rates, directly or indirectly, to the family members of the then railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, in exchange for appointments in various zonal offices of the Railways.
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