Railways Land-for-Jobs Case: Delhi Court Orders ED to Conclude Investigation

Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court has directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to conclude a pending investigation within two weeks in the land-for-job case associated with money laundering, involving Bihar’s former Chief Minister Rabri Devi and her two daughters.

In this case, Rabri Devi, along with her daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, has been chargesheeted, along with Amit Katyal and Hridyanand Chaudhary. All accused, except Amit Katyal, attended the proceedings via video conferencing.

Special judge Vishal Gogne, after considering submissions from the ED’s Special Public Prosecutor, issued the directive. The court has scheduled the next hearing for April 22.

“It is directed that the ED shall make efforts to finalize the conclusions of any remaining investigation within two weeks,” the order stated.

The court also reviewed the ED’s case record regarding the course of further investigation.

It further observed that the principal complaint (charge sheet) is already before it. Upon inquiry by the court, the ED’s Special Public Prosecutor (SPP), Manish Jain, submitted that further investigation is being conducted on a priority and expeditious basis.

Furthermore, the court granted time to the ED to respond to the accused persons’ request for unreleased documents from the ED. This matter is currently at the stage of scrutinizing documents after the filing of the charge sheet.

On February 28, the court granted regular bail to Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti, Hema Yadav, and Hridyanand Chaudhary. These accused were summoned by the court following the cognizance of the charge sheet filed by the ED.

On January 27, the court issued summons to former Bihar CM Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti, Hema Yadav, Hridyanand Chaudhary, and other accused in the case. During the investigation, Amit Katyal was arrested by the ED.

Two firms, namely AK Infosystem and AB Export, are also implicated in this case.

The ED submitted that AK Infosystem, formed by Amit Katyal in 2006-07, was involved in IT data analysis but instead purchased several land parcels. One of these parcels pertains to the main predicate offense, which is land for a job. This company was transferred to Rabri Devi and Tejaswi Yadav’s name in 2014 for a consideration of one lakh Rupees, the ED submitted.

In the Prosecution Complaint filed on January 9, 2024, the ED stated that AB Export, incorporated in 1996, was purportedly in the export business. In 2007, Rs five crore was transferred through five companies, leading to the purchase of a property in New Friends Colony.

Seven land parcels are involved in this case. Out of these, Rabri, Hema Yadav, and Misa Bharti allegedly received land parcels and later sold them.

The ED’s Special Public Prosecutor informed the court 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 declined to quash ED proceedings against Amit Katyal, who is accused of engaging in transactions with the family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav.

According to the ED, based on specific intelligence inputs in March, searches were conducted at 24 locations across Delhi NCR, Patna, Mumbai, and Ranchi in the Railways Land for Job Scam. These searches led to the recovery of unaccounted cash, foreign currency, gold bullion, gold jewelry, and incriminating documents.

The searches revealed proceeds of crime amounting to approximately Rs 600 crore at this point, comprising immovable properties and transactions routed through various benamidaars.

According to the ED’s PMLA investigation, several pieces of land in prominent locations in Patna and other areas were illegally acquired by Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family in exchange for railway jobs. The current market value of these land parcels exceeds Rs 200 crore.

The investigation also revealed that a property in New Friends Colony, Delhi, owned by Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and family, was acquired at a nominal value but has a present market value of approximately Rs 150 crore.

It is suspected that a significant amount of proceeds of crime was infused into purchasing this property, with Mumbai-based entities dealing in the gems and jewelry sector allegedly used to channel these ill-gotten gains.

The investigation found that four land parcels acquired by the family of Lalu Yadav for Rs 7.5 lakhs from poor applicants were later sold to Syed Abu Dojana, an ex-RJD MLA, by Rabri Devi, resulting in substantial gains. The proceeds were allegedly transferred to Tejashwi Prasad Yadav’s account.

Moreover, investigations revealed that lands were obtained from numerous poor parents and candidates in exchange for Group D railway jobs, with more than 50% of recruited candidates in many railway zones reportedly being from Lalu Yadav’s family constituencies.