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The Rouse Avenue court on Saturday reserved an order on the interim bail plea of Businessman Amit Katyal who has been arrested by the ED in land for a job money laundering case. He had sought interim bail on medical grounds.
Special judge Vishal Gogne reserved the order after hearing submissions of senior advocate Vikas Pahwa on behalf of Amit Katyal. His application was opposed by ED's Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain along with advocate Manish Jain. The court will pronounce the order on the plea on February 5. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a Prosecution Complaint (PC) on January 8 this year under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 against Amit Katyal, Rabri Devi, Misha Bharti, Hema Yadav, Hridyanand Chaudhary and two companies viz. AK Infosystems Private Limited, AB Exports Pvt. Ltd. before the Rouse Avenue court. The Court has taken cognizance of the PC on January 27 and issued notices to the accused persons to be present on February 9 for further trial. It is stated that ED initiated investigations on the basis of FIR registered by CBI related to Land for Job Scam alleging that Lalu Prasad Yadav, the then Railway Minister, indulged in corruption for appointment of Group D substitutes in Indian Railways during the period 2004- 2009. The candidates were told to transfer land as bribe in return for jobs in Indian Railways as per FIR. The CBI has also filed a charge sheet. It is alleged by the ED that family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav namely Rabri Devi, Misha Bharti, Hema Yadav who are accused in the PC had received land parcel(s) from family of candidates (who were selected as Group D substitutes in Indian Railways) for nominal amounts. Hridyanand Chaudhary, another accused in PC is a former employee in gaushala of Rabri Devi who had acquired property from one of the candidates and later transferred the same to Hema Yadav. The companies AK Infosystems Private Limited, AB Exports Pvt. Ltd. were shell companies which received proceeds of crime for family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav, ED said in a statement. It added that immovable properties were acquired in the said companies by front men and thereafter shares were transferred to family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav for nominal amounts. Amit Katyal used to manage these companies for Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family. Earlier, ED had conducted search operations on 10.3.2023 which resulted in seizure of cash of Rs 1 Crore approximately and valuables equivalent to about Rs 1.25 Crore. ED has also provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs. 6.02 Crore on 29.7.2023. ED had arrested Amit Katyal on 11.11.2023 for knowingly assisting Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family in money laundering, statement said. (ANI)
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