RJD MP Misa Bharti speaks with the media as she arrives at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office for questioning in the land-for-jobs case, in Patna, Monday, January 29, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday granted interim bail to former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi and daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav till February 28 in the Railways land-for-job case.
Special Judge Vishal Gogne passed the order after the ED sought time to file a reply to the regular bail applications filed by the accused persons -- Devi, Bharti, Yadav and Hridyanand Chaudhary.
“Taking into account the specific plea of the ED for bringing any supervening plea on record through a reply to the bail applications, the application shall be decided after a reply is filed. The applicants/accused shall be admitted to interim bail till then. Let the ED file a reply to the bail applications of the accused before the next date,” the judge said.
The accused persons appeared before the court and moved applications for regular bail. The accused persons and companies were summoned by the court to face trial for the allegation of money laundering.
During the brief proceedings, the court asked the ED why it needed the accused's custody when it had not arrested them during its investigation.
The special public prosecutor replied that while the accused were not arrested during the course of investigation, a reply is still required to be filed for bringing on record any relevant supervening circumstance.
Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the accused, sought bail, claiming that the requirement for filing a reply on behalf of the ED was perfunctory as the accused, for the reason of not having been arrested during the investigation, were entitled to bail in terms of the decision of the Supreme Court.
“The course of the present investigation by the ED reflects that the investigating agency did not find it necessary to effect the arrest of the applicants either with a view to seeking custodial investigation or on account of any perceived threat/coercion upon witnesses. In this scenario, there is presently no basis for them to be committed to custody by the court,” Singh told the judge.
The interim bail was granted on personal bonds and surety bonds of Rs 1 lakh each.
The judge had issued a summons to the accused after taking cognisance of the charge sheet in the case.
The alleged scam pertains to the period when Lalu Prasad was the railway minister in the UPA-1 government.
It is alleged that from 2004 to 2009, several people were appointed to Group "D" positions in various zones of the Indian Railways and in lieu, these people transferred their land to the family members of the then railway minister Prasad and A K Infosystems Private Limited.
The ED case, filed under the criminal sections of the PMLA, stems from a complaint lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
According to the CBI, no advertisement or public notice was issued for appointment, but some residents of Patna were appointed as substitutes in different zonal railways in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hazipur.
As a quid pro quo, the candidates, directly or through their immediate family members, allegedly sold land to Prasad's family members at highly discounted rates, up to one-fourth to one-fifth of the prevailing market rates, the CBI alleged.