The Enforcement Directorate (ED) logo.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday directed the ED to file supplementary charge sheet, if any, by June 7 in a money laundering case related to the alleged land for job scam in the Indian Railways involving RJD chief Lalu Prasad and several of his family members.
Special Judge Vishal Gogne said he has questioned the ED several times in the course of the proceedings over the past few months about completion of the investigation.
The ED’s counsel have repeatedly said further investigation is at an advanced stage and is likely to be completed soon, the judge noted.
He further noted that in its order passed on April 12, the court had directed the ED to make efforts to finalise the conclusions of any remaining investigation within two weeks.
“However, no further supplementary complaint (ED's version of charge sheet) has been filed till date. This court is under a mandate to expedite all matters pertaining to MPs/MLAs in terms of the directions of the Supreme Court,” the judge said.
The judge observed that the allegations against all the accused, whether forwarded thus far or not, are a bundle of interconnected facts and transactions in the alleged nature of money laundering.
“With the further/supplementary complaint not having been filed yet, the court is unable to take a composite view of the allegations and proceed further for expediting trial... The investigating agencies are equally bound by the above directions as the trial cannot proceed without conclusion of investigation. The ED is thus directed to ensure that the further/supplementary complaint, if any, is filed by the next date,” the judge said.
He has posted the matter for further hearing on June 7.
The judge had on May 29 pulled up the CBI for the delay in filing a 'conclusive charge sheet' in the alleged land for job scam in the Indian Railways involving Lalu Prasad and his family members.
The judge had expressed displeasure over the CBI seeking more time 'on every date' to file the charge sheet, and directed the probe agency to file the final report by June 7.
The CBI had filed a supplementary charge sheet against three accused-two candidates, Ashok Kumar and Babita, and Bhola Yadav, who was the personal secretary to Lalu Prasad when he was the railway minister, in March.
The court had on February 28 granted bail to Prasad's wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi and their daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav in the case.
The CBI has alleged that several people were appointed to Group 'D' positions in various zones of the Indian Railways from 2004 to 2009 in return for land parcels they sold at heavily discounted rates to the family members of Prasad, who was the railway minister in the UPA I government.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also probing the case over alleged money laundering.