Since Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided various premises owned by Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members in connection with the ‘land for railways jobs’ scam, the case has become the talk of the town. It, therefore, becomes essential to take an account of what is this scam, how it was unearthed, and what proceedings have been done so far by various investigation agencies in this case.
What is land for jobs scam?
The prime allegation, in this case, is that bribes in the form of land were received by Lalu Prasad Yadav, his family members, companies handled by them, and other close aides in exchange for recruitment for the posts of Group D in the Indian Railways in the tenure when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the Union Railway Minister.
The case dates back to the era when Lalu Prasad Yadav used to be the Union Railway Minister in the Congress-led UPA-1 (United Progressive Alliance) government. It was in this government from 2004 to 2009 that Lalu Prasad Yadav worked as the Railway Minister. The Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo former chief minister of Bihar Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members including his wife Rabri Devi, daughter Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, and son Tejashwi Yadav are among the prime accused in this case.
The case was first discussed in 2008-2009
This case first came to light in 2008 when Janata Dal (United) leaders and MPs started making allegations about irregularities in the railway recruitment process and claimed that there is a land-for-jobs scam in which Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members are directly involved. In 2009, Trinamool Congress Party leader Mamata Banerjee became the railway minister in the UPA-2 government. She confirmed in September 2009 that the agency will investigate this case.
4. So, that scam happened under then-PM Manmohan Singh Govt, but Lalu was now not with the UPA, so they ordered a CBI inquiry. pic.twitter.com/UGk8FD2GlN
— Prakash (@Gujju_Er) March 12, 2023
At that time, Mamata Banerjee said, “This inquiry is not against Lalu Prasad Yadav. I have respect for him. This is against corruption in a particular department.”
CBI filed a new corruption case in 2021
The CBI initiated a preliminary inquiry in September 2021 into the charges that when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the railway minister during UPA 1, obtained benefits in the form of the transfer of property in the names of his family members in exchange for the appointments in Group “D” posts in various Railway zones.
On May 18, 2022, CBI filed a new case of corruption against Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, and his daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, accusing them of obtaining land plots as bribes from some people who were recruited in the Railways. The CBI also named 12 others in this case who were given jobs in the railway zones of Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur, and Hajipur.
What did CBI mention in the FIR?
The CBI registered the FIR under IPC section 120-B, which deals with criminal conspiracy, and under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. In the FIR, CBI alleged, “In lieu thereof, the substitutes, who were residents of Patna themselves or through their family members, sold and gifted their land situated at Patna in favor of the family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav and a private company controlled by family members, which was also involved in the transfer of such immovable properties in the name of family members.”
According to the agency, no advertisement or any public notice was issued for such appointment of substitutes in Zonal Railways, yet the appointees who were residents of Patna were appointed in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur, and Hajipur. The CBI investigations revealed that Lalu’s family obtained over one lakh square feet of land in this manner for just Rs 26 lakh, despite the fact that the land’s actual value is over Rs 4.39 crore.
The agency said in the FIR, “Enquiry has revealed that about 1,05,292 sq feet of land located in Patna were acquired by family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav. Interestingly, in most of the cases of land transfer, payment to the sellers was shown to be paid in cash. The current value of land parcels, including the land acquired through gift deeds as per existing circle rate, is about Rs 4.39 crore.”
Mentioning the details of the transactions, the CBI further said in its FIR, “Out of seven instances of land transfer, it is revealed that three sale deeds were executed in favor of Rabri Devi, wife of Lalu Yadav, one sale deed was executed in the name of Misha Bharti, daughter of Lalu Prasad Yadav, one sale deed was executed in favor of M/s AK Infosystems Private Limited, in which later Rabri Devi became major shareholder, in the year 2014 and currently she is one of the Director of the Company. Two gift deeds were executed in favor of Hema Yadav, daughter of Lalu Prasad Yadav.”
Bhola Yadav worked as an executor
In connection with the case, the CBI arrested Bhola Yadav, the former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) of then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in July 2022. At the same time, authorities arrested Hridayanand Chaudhary, a railway employee suspected of being a beneficiary of the land-for-jobs scam. Bhola Yadav worked as the prime executed of the transactions in this case. He also pressurized the railway recruitment officers for certain appointments in this case.
In a statement following Bhola Yadav’s arrest, a CBI official stated, “During the investigation, it was found that the then OSD to former railway minister was involved in the alleged conspiracy in the appointment of substitutes. The accused was managing affairs for the transfer of land by the family members of the substitutes to the family members of the former railway minister.”
Raids at the residences of other RJD leaders
On 24th August 2022, the CBI conducted raids at the houses of four RJD leaders in connection with the land-for-jobs scam. The raids were carried out at the premises of RJD MLC Sunil Singh, Rajya Sabha MPs Ashfaq Karim and Faiyaz Ahmed, and former MLC Subodh Rai.
CBI filed a charge sheet in October 2022
On Friday 7th October 2022, the central bureau of investigation (CBI) filed a charge sheet against Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and former union railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav for cases regarding land-for-job scams. The RJD founder Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, and their daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav were all named by the CBI in the matter. 12 other individuals who received employment in the Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur, and Hajipur Railway Zones in 2008-2009 were also named in this case.
More raids and investigations
On Monday, 6th March 2022, The CBI reached the residence of former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi in Patna in connection with the land-for-job case. Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi, two former chief ministers of Bihar, were also questioned by the CBI on Monday in this regard in Delhi and Patna.
On Friday, 10th March 2023, Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided 15 places of Lalu Yadav’s close associates in Delhi, Mumbai, Noida, and Patna. These include Tejashwi Yadav’s house in Delhi and the residences of Lalu’s three daughters Hema, Ragini, and Chanda. Apart from these, the Ghaziabad residence of Lalu’s brother-in-law Jitendra Yadav was also raided. Before this raid, as part of a money laundering investigation into a purported “land-for-jobs” case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched 24 places, including Yadav’s Delhi home, other locations in the national capital area, Patna, Ranchi, and Mumbai. The searches were done based on specific intelligence inputs.
ED claimed recovery worth Rs 600 crores
On Saturday, March 11, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) informed that they had recovered unaccounted cash of Rs 1 Crore, foreign currency including USD 1900 (₹1.55 lakh), 540 gms gold bullion, and more than 1.5 kg of gold jewelry in the raids it carried out on Friday in multiple cities of Bihar against former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family in connection with the land for job scam case. The federal investigation agency added that the searches resulted in the detection of Proceeds of Crime amounting to Rs 600 Crore approximately.
“Searches resulted in the detection of Proceeds of Crime amounting to Rs 600 Crore approximately at this point of time which is in the form of immovable properties of Rs 350 Crore and transactions of Rs 250 Crore routed through various benamidaars,” the ED said in a statement.
Searches resulted in detection of Proceeds of Crime amounting to Rs 600 Crore approximately at this point of time .
— ED (@dir_ed) March 11, 2023
Documents leading to more properties worth Rs 200 crores in the scam
According to the agency, it has also recovered a number of other incriminating documents, including various property documents, sale deeds held in the names of family members, and benamidars suggesting the illicit acquisition of large land banks. Apart from these, electronic devices were also seized during the raids.
According to a press release issued by the ED, the inquiry has found that multiple plots of property in prominent places in Patna and other localities were illegally obtained by the family of then-Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in exchange for jobs in the railways. The department said that the present market value of these land parcels is more than Rs 200 crore.
Buying a house worth Rs 150 crore just in Rs 4 lakhs
According to the agency, the probe revealed that a property in New Friends Colony in Delhi, registered in the name of M/s A B Exports Private Limited, a firm owned and controlled by Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and his family, was purchased for merely Rs four lakhs. It was stated that the current market value of this property is about Rs 150 crores. ED also found that this property was being used as a residence of Tejashwi Yadav, even though it is registered in the name of his firm and declared as an office.
“It is suspected that a huge amount of cash/Proceeds of Crime has been infused in purchasing this property and few Mumbai-based entities, dealing in the gems and jewelry sector were used to channel ill-gotten proceeds of crime in this regard. The property has been, on paper declared as the office of M/s A B Exports Private Limited and M/s AK Infosystems Pvt ltd, it is being exclusively used as residential premises by Tejasvi Prasad Yadav, son of Lalu Prasad Yadav. During the searches, Tejasvi Prasad Yadav was found to be staying at this house and was found to be using this house as his residential property,” the ED statement said.
The property acquired by land for jobs scam was sold to a third person
The ED further added that it has found that 4 parcels of lands acquired by the family of Lalu Yadav in just Rs 7.5 Lakhs from poor Group-D applicants were sold to Syed Abu Dojana, Ex-RJD MLA by Rabri Devi with huge gains at Rs 3.5 crore in a collusive deal.
“ED investigation further revealed that a major portion of the amount thus received, was transferred to the account of Sh. Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. Investigations revealed that in a similar fashion, lands were taken from several poor parents and candidates in lieu of Group D jobs in the Railways. It has been revealed during the investigation that in many Railways Zones, more than 50% of recruited candidates were from Lalu Yadav families’ constituencies. Further investigation in this regard is ongoing,” it said.
Other cases against the Yadav family
This is not the only scam in which the family of Lalu Prasad Yadav and his close aides are involved. There are many other cases against them. Notable among them are the fodder scam in which Lalu Prasad Yadav is convicted and sentenced to jail for various terms in several cases in this scam. Besides, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi are also accused in a disproportionate assets case.
The ED is also investigating a money laundering case against Lalu Prasad Yadav’s daughter Misa Bharti and her husband Shailesh Kumar. Lalu Prasad Yadav is also an accused in the IRCTC railway hotels tender allocation scam case.
