The Supreme Court on Monday (April 13) declined to quash the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR in the land-for-jobs case involving former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members. However, a bench comprising Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh granted the 77-year-old RJD chief exemption from appearing before the trial court during the proceedings.
The court also permitted Yadav to raise the issue of the applicability of Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act in the case.
Delhi HC dismissed Lalu Yadav's plea to quash CBI FIR
Earlier on March 24, the Delhi High Court had refused to quash a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR in the case involving Yadav and his family members, rejecting the RJD chief's contention that the agency's action was legally unsustainable in the absence of prior sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
In his order, Justice Ravinder Dudeja said the section was introduced in 2018 with prospective effect, whereas the allegations date back to 2004-2009, and the court was "persuaded" by the agency's stand that permitting a belated challenge on a technical plea relating to prior approval would defeat the "orderly administration of criminal justice".
Land-for-jobs case
The land-for-jobs case is related to Group D appointments made in the West Central Zone of the Indian Railways in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, during Yadav's tenure as the railways minister between 2004 and 2009, allegedly in return for land parcels gifted or transferred by the recruits in the name of his family members or associates, officials said.
Yadav had contended that the inquiry, FIR, as well as the investigation and subsequent chargesheets in the matter, were legally unsustainable in the absence of prior sanction taken by the CBI under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
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