Delhi HC reserves order on Lalu Yadav's plea to quash FIR in land-for-jobs case

New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved its order on a petition by RJD supremo and former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav seeking quashing of the FIR filed by the CBI in the land-for-jobs case.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and additional solicitor general S V Raju concluded their submissions before Justice Ravinder Dudeja on behalf of Yadav and the investigating agency, respectively.

In his petition in the high court, Yadav has sought quashing of the FIR as well as the three chargesheets filed in 2022, 2023 and 2024 and the consequential orders of cognisance.

He has contended that the enquiry, FIR as well as the investigation and subsequent chargesheets in the matter were legally unsustainable in the absence of the prior sanction taken by CBI as is mandatory under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Sibal emphasised on Monday that even as per the agency, Yadav acted in his "official" capacity as the minister for railways and therefore sanction was needed to prosecute him for the acts allegedly done in "discharge of his official functions or duties".

Raju opposed the submissions and said the sanction, in the manner claimed by the petitioner, was not required.

The court granted time to the CBI as well as Yadav to file their written submissions.

Raju has earlier argued that the power to take a decision or make a recommendation on appointments was with the general managers and, therefore, there was no need to obtain prior sanction under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act to proceed against Yadav as his conduct could not be said to be within the ambit of "discharge of his official functions or duties".

The 'land-for-jobs' case is related to Group D appointments made in the West Central Zone of the Indian Railways based in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, during Lalu Prasad Yadav's tenure as the rail minister between 2004 and 2009 in return for land parcels gifted or transferred by the recruits in the name of the RJD supremo's family or associates, officials said.

The case was registered on May 18, 2022, against Lalu Prasad Yadav and others, including his wife, two daughters, unidentified public officials and private persons.

The petition also said that the FIR was lodged in 2022 i.e. almost after a delay of 14 years despite the CBI's initial enquiries and investigations being closed after the filing of a closure report before the competent court.

"Initiation of the fresh investigation in concealment of the previous investigations and its closure reports is nothing but an abuse of the process of law.

"The petitioner is being made to suffer through an illegal, motivated investigation, in clear violation of his fundamental right to fair investigation. Both the initiation of the present enquiries and investigations are non est as both have been initiated without a mandatory approval under Section 17A of the PC Act," the petition claimed.

"Without such approval, any enquiry/inquiry/investigation undertaken would be void ab initio. Section 17A of the PC Act provides a filter from vexatious litigation. T "The present scenario of regime revenge and political vendetta is exactly what Section 17A seeks to restrict by protecting innocent persons. The initiation of investigation without such approval vitiates the entire proceedings since inception and the same is a jurisdictional error," it contended. PTI ADS RT RT