Delhi High Court rejects Lalu Yadav's plea to quash Land-for-Jobs case

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea filed by former Bihar Chief Minister and Union Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to quash the land-for-railways jobs case against him and several of his family members.

Justice Ravinder Dudeja said that the plea was devoid of any merits.

Yadav moved the High Court seeking the quashing of the First Information Report (FIR) registered against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2022. He also urged the Court to quash the chargesheets filed by the CBI and the trial court orders taking cognisance of them.

Notably, the High Court had earlier refused to stay the trial court proceedings in the case. That order was upheld by the Supreme Court.

It was Yadav's case that the CBI had failed to obtain mandatory prosecution sanction under Section 17-A of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act) against him before registering the FIR.

The provision mandates prior governmental approval before investigating corruption allegations against public servants when such offences relate to official recommendations or decisions made in the discharge of their duties. The provision was inserted in the PC Act through the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.

It was also submitted that alleged offences were committed during 2004-2009, but the FIR was lodged only in 2022, after a delay of nearly 14 years.

Justice Dudeja today ruled that Section 17A is prospective in nature and as the matter relates to offences committed between 2004 to 2009, it does not apply to the present case.

“The absence of prior approval under this provision does not vitiate the preliminary inquiry, registration of FIR, investigation or cognisance orders passed by the learned Special Judge. The petition being devoid of merits is accordingly dismissed,” the Court said.

The case concerns allegations by the CBI that during his tenure as Union Railway Minister between 2004 and 2009, Lalu Prasad Yadav facilitated appointments to Group D posts in the Railways in exchange for land parcels transferred to his family at nominal prices.

According to the agency, several job seekers or their relatives allegedly sold or gifted land in Patna and other locations to Yadav’s family members and associated entities, without any public recruitment process, as part of a quid pro quo arrangement.

The Yadav family has denied the allegations, stating that they are politically motivated.

Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Maninder Singh along with advocates Varun Jain, Navin Kumar, Sumit Singh, Aekta Vats, Aparajita Jamwal, Janvi Narang and Satish Kumar appeared for Lalu Yadav.

CBI was represented by Additional Solicitors General (ASGs) SV Raju and DP Singh as well as advocates Manu Mishra, Garima Saxena, Imaan Khera, Shreya Dutt, Samrat Goswami, Hitarth Raja and Aditi Andley.