Bihar Deputy Chief Minister, Tejashwi Yadav, informed the Delhi High Court on Thursday that he will be appearing before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on March 25 for questioning related to the alleged land-for-jobs scam. The CBI had issued three notices to Yadav dated February 28, March 4, and March 11, but he is yet to appear for questioning. Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma recorded Yadav’s statement and assured him that he would not be arrested by the CBI this month.
During the hearing, Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, who was representing Yadav, highlighted that the budget session of the Bihar assembly was ongoing, and also mentioned that Yadav’s pregnant wife suffered due to the CBI raids. Advocate DP Singh, who was representing the CBI, informed the Court that the chargesheet was ready, and Yadav could appear on any Saturday. He also assured the Court that Yadav would not be arrested.
The case relates to alleged appointments made in the Railways in exchange for land transferred to Lalu Prasad’s family when he was the Union Railway Minister from 2004 to 2009. The CBI’s case is that the appointments made in the railways were not in line with the standards and guidelines established by the Indian Railways for hiring. The chargesheet was filed by the CBI on October 10, 2022, against 16 people, including Prasad’s wife Rabri Devi and their daughter.
Yadav had challenged the summons issued by the CBI asking him to appear for questioning in connection with the scam. He argued that the notices were issued in violation of Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) with mala fide intentions to harass him, and that he was a minor at the time of the alleged offense. Yadav is a resident of Patna, but he was being asked to appear for questioning in Delhi, which is contrary to the proviso to Section 160 of the CrPC. His plea has demanded that the three notices issued to him be quashed, and in the interim, he has sought a stay on the notices. An alternate prayer has been made to question Yadav either at his residence or through video-conference.
On Wednesday, Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court had granted bail to Tejashwi Yadav’s father and former Union Minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, and daughter Misa Bharti in the same case.
