Lalu Prasad Yadav moves Delhi High Court challenging criminal charges in land-for-jobs case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) assured the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that it will not put approvers on witness stand in the land-for-jobs case against Lalu Yadav and his family till the High Court decides the former railway minister's challenge to the framing of criminal charges. .Additional Solicitor General (ASG) DP Singh made the statement before Justice Manoj Jain. An approver in a criminal trial is an accomplice or co-accused who has confessed to a crime and has agreed to testify for the prosecution against their former associates in exchange for a pardon or reduced punishment. Singh today said that the approvers in the case will not be examined before the trial court for now.Singh gave the oral assurance during the hearing of Yadav's plea against trial court order to frame charges against the former railway minister.Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Maninder Singh appeared for Yadav and told the Bench that the trial court was hearing the case on a daily basis and that Yadav has challenged the approver statements in his plea before the High Court.After hearing the case briefly today, Justice Jain said that the arguments in the matter will be heard in detail on March 17, 18, 23 and 24. .The trial court had on January 9 framed charges against the former Bihar Chief Minister who also served as Union Railway minister during UPA regime. His family members have been charged with cheating and criminal conspiracy.Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne of the Rouse Avenue Courts ruled that Lalu Yadav and his family members were operating as a criminal enterprise and were involved in an overarching conspiracy, and used public employment as a bargaining chip to obtain properties. The Court ultimately said that of the 98 surviving accused in the case, it is framing charges against 46 people (including Lalu Yadav and his family) and discharging 52. .The case concerns allegations by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that during Yadav's tenure as Union Railway Minister between 2004 and 2009, he granted Group D jobs to candidates in exchange for land parcels transferred to his family at nominal prices. As per the allegations, several job seekers or their relatives allegedly sold or gifted land in Patna and other areas to Lalu’s family and associated companies. Investigators claim that no public recruitment process was followed and that these transactions constituted a quid pro quo arrangement. The Yadav family has denied the allegations, stating that they are politically motivated. Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing the money laundering angle in the case and has attached properties worth over ₹600 crore as proceeds of crime..Sibal today informed the Court about the case's background and argued that Yadav, as the railways minister, had nothing to do with the recruitment of Class D employees. He said that the CBI's case is based on approver statements and that none of the persons who got the job has made a complaint about a bribe being paid. Sibal added that after Yadav ceased to be the railway minister, the candidates hired under his tenure have been regularised. He underscored that in at least one case, the appointment of the candidate was in 2008, but the alleged purchase of land was in 2015, nearly six years after Yadav left the railways ministry. There is no quid pro quo as the seller of the land has been paid the money, and it is not CBI's case that the money has returned, Sibal added. Meanwhile, Senior Advocate Maninder Singh said that there was no approver in the first chargesheet. "After one year of the first chargesheet, the approver statement was recorded," he added. .Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.