Supreme Court Declines To Halt Lalu Yadav's Land-for-Jobs Trial, Eases Appearance Mandate

The apex court in the Land-For-Jobs Scam trial exempted Lalu Prasad Yadav from appearance. The SC has also refused to interfere with the Delhi HC's order that had refused to stay the trial against the RJD Chief.

Supreme Court (L); Lalu Yadav (R) (Photos Credit: ANI)

Land-For-Jobs Case: The Supreme Court on Friday granted an exemption from appearance to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav in the trial court proceedings of the Land-For-Jobs Scam. Meanwhile, ANI reported that the top court has also refused to interfere with the Delhi High Court's May 29 order, which had refused to stay the trial against Lalu Yadav before a special court in Delhi in the land-for-jobs case during his tenure as Railway Minister from 2004 to 2009.

A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh asked the HC to expedite the hearing of the case while granting 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 court order stated.

Delhi HC’s May 29 Decision 

The Delhi HC on May 29, while dismissing the RJD Chief’s petition for a stay of the trial in the land-for-jobs scam case, had remarked 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.

Land-for-Jobs Scam 

Lalu Yadav had approached the SC seeking an order to quash the criminal proceedings against him in a land-for-jobs case. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the RJD Supremo, sought a 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 a public servant).

On the other hand, 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.

As per ANI, on May 18, 2022, the probe agency had registered a case alleging that between 2004 and 2009, Lalu 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.

Furthermore, according to the investigation agency, the 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 Lalu Yadav, his family members, and 77 other persons, including 38 job seekers. 

(with ANI inputs)