Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court has reserved its order on summoning former Railway Minister Lalu Yadav and former Bihar Deputy CM Tejaswi Yadav, along with others, in a land-for-job money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The court is set to pronounce the order on August 24.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has recently filed a supplementary charge sheet. Special Judge Vishal Gogne, after considering the supplementary charge sheet and submissions from the ED’s counsel, reserved the order on summoning Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tejaswi Yadav, and nine other charge-sheeted accused.
On August 6, the ED filed its first supplementary charge sheet against Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tejaswi Yadav, and other accused, which includes names such as Lallan Chaudhary, Hazari Rai, Dharmender Kumar, Akhileshwar Singh, Ravinder Kumar, Late Lal Babu Rai, Sonmatia Devi, Late Kishun Dev Rai, and Sanjay Rai. The charge sheet also includes 96 relied-upon documents.
On July 6, the Rouse Avenue court granted time and directed the ED to file an additional or concluding charge sheet by the next hearing date. The joint director of the ED also appeared before the court to update on the investigation status and steps taken by the agency.
Former Bihar CM Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti, and Hema, along with other accused, had already been charge-sheeted by the ED. ED’s SPP Manish Jain and Snehal Sharda appeared before the court, clarifying that the supplementary charge sheet was based on the evidence and materials available to the agency.
Earlier, the court had directed the ED to expedite the investigation and file an additional or concluding charge sheet by the next date. In April, the court had ordered the ED to finalize the investigation in the Land for Job money laundering case within two weeks.
In this case, Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti, and Hema Yadav were charge-sheeted along with Amit Katyal and Hridyanand Chaudhary. All accused, except Amit Katyal, appeared via video conferencing. On February 28, the court granted regular bail to Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti, Hema Yadav, and Hridyanand Chaudhary. On January 27, summons were issued to these individuals and other accused in the case. Amit Katyal was arrested by the ED during the investigation.
Two firms, A K Infosystem and A B Export, have also been implicated. The ED submitted that A K Infosystem, formed by Amit Katyal in 2006-07 for IT data analysis, was involved in buying several land parcels, including one related to the main predicate offense of land-for-job fraud. This company was later transferred to Rabri Devi and Tejaswi Yadav in 2014 for just one lakh Rupees.
On January 9, 2024, the ED filed a Prosecution Complaint (Charge sheet) in the Land-for-Job scam. The ED claimed that A B Export, incorporated in 1996 for export business, received Rs 5 crore in 2007 through five companies and used it to purchase property in New Friends Colony.
The case involves seven land parcels, with Rabri Devi, Hema Yadav, and Misa Bharti receiving land, which they later sold. The ED’s Special Public Prosecutor noted that the Yadav family members are beneficiaries of the proceeds of crime.
Katyal is said to be a close aide of former Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. The Delhi High Court had previously refused to quash ED proceedings against Katyal.
In March, based on specific intelligence, the ED conducted searches at 24 locations in Delhi NCR, Patna, Mumbai, and Ranchi related to the Railways Land-for-Job Scam. The searches led to the recovery of unaccounted cash of Rs 1 crore, foreign currency including USD 1,900, 540 grams of gold bullion, and over 1.5 kg of gold jewelry (worth approximately Rs 1.25 crore), along with incriminating documents and electronic devices.
The ED stated that the investigation revealed illegal acquisition of land parcels by Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family, with a current market value exceeding Rs 200 crore. Several benamidars, shell entities, and beneficial owners were identified. The property at New Friends Colony, Delhi, registered under M/s A B Exports Private Limited (owned by Tejaswi Yadav and family), was acquired at Rs 4 lakhs but is now valued at approximately Rs 150 crore. The property was used as a residential premises by Tejaswi Yadav, despite being declared as the office of the firms.
The ED’s investigation also uncovered that four land parcels acquired by Lalu Yadav’s family for Rs 7.5 lakhs from poor Group-D applicants were sold to Syed Abu Dojana, Ex-RJD MLA, for Rs 3.5 crore, with a significant portion of the funds transferred to Tejaswi Yadav. The investigation revealed that over 50 percent of recruited candidates in several Railway Zones were from Lalu Yadav’s constituencies.
