In a significant development in the ongoing money laundering investigation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a comprehensive 100-page supplementary charge sheet in a Delhi court, naming former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, his son Tejashwi Yadav, and eight others as accused in the alleged land-for-jobs scam.
The charge sheet, filed on Tuesday, includes 96 relied-upon documents and has been presented to Special Judge Vishal Gogne. The court has scheduled the hearing for August 13 to consider the arguments regarding the charge sheet.
The ED’s investigation is based on a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) first information report (FIR) which alleges that during Lalu Prasad Yadav’s tenure as railway minister from 2004 to 2009, job aspirants were allegedly required to transfer land as bribes in exchange for positions. Both Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members have been implicated in the CBI’s predicate offence case, which led to their bail being granted with the condition of not being arrested before the charge sheet was filed.
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The ED has accused A K Infosystems and A B Exports, two companies named in the scam, of being used to benefit the Yadav family. The charge sheet claims that A K Infosystems acquired 11 land parcels but transferred them to Yadav family members at a significantly reduced price of ₹1 lakh, despite the firm’s assets being valued at ₹1.89 crores. These parcels, it is alleged, were acquired in exchange for jobs in Group D categories within the railways and were situated adjacent to land owned by the Yadav family.
Furthermore, the ED alleges that A B Exports generated ₹5 crore through fraudulent transactions. Tejashwi Yadav is said to have purchased this company using funds from Katyal, who was arrested by the ED in November 2023 and has been in judicial custody since. The charge sheet claims that ₹1 crore from the sale of land parcels belonging to Devi and Hema Yadav was given to Tejashwi Yadav and subsequently infused into A B Exports.