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The Supreme Court refused to stay the trial proceedings against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav before a special court in Delhi in a land-for-jobs case during his tenure as railways minister from 2004 to 2009.
The Delhi High Court on May 29, while dismissing Yadav's petition for a stay of the trial in the land-for-jobs scam case, said that there was no compelling reason to stay the proceedings. While refusing to stay the trial court's proceedings, the High Court issued a notice to the CBI on Yadav's plea to quash the CBI FIR and posted the hearing for August 12. During the hearing today, the apex court refused to interfere with the Delhi High Court's May 29 order that had declined to stay the proceedings. A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh asked the High Court to expedite the hearing of the case and granted an exemption to Yadav from personal appearance before the trial court. "We are not inclined to interfere except by observing that at the time of disposing of the final matter, the observation made in the impugned order will not stand in the way. Considering the fact and circumstances of the case we are inclined to pass a further order to the effect that he may not be personally present (before the trial court) and therefore his appearance is dispensed with. We request the High Court to expedite the hearing. Disposed of accordingly," the order stated. Yadav has approached the top court seeking an order to quash criminal proceedings against him in a land-for-jobs case. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Yadav, sought stay by contending that there was no prior approval obtained by CBI under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act (prior sanction before initiating investigation against public servant). ASG SV Raju, representing CBI, submitted that Section 17A sanction was not required in the present case as it pertained to offences which took place before the 2018 amendment. On May 18, 2022, the CBI had registered a case alleging that between 2004 and 2009, Yadav had allegedly exploited his ministerial position to secure land transfers for his family in exchange for Group "D" railway jobs. The CBI has alleged these appointments were made without any public job advertisements and that senior officials in the West Central Railways facilitated these appointments under Yadav's direction. According to the CBI, these appointments did not align with the Indian Railways' established standards and guidelines for recruitment. On June 7, the CBI filed a detailed charge sheet against Yadav, his family members, and 77 other persons, including 38 job seekers. (ANI)
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