Delhi court likely to pronounce order on charges in Lalu Yadav land-for-job case on Friday

New Delhi: A Delhi court is likely to pronounce on Friday its order on framing of charges in the alleged land-for-job scam involving RJD chief and former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, his family members and others.

On December 19, Special Judge Vishal Gogne, while hearing the case filed by the CBI against Lalu Yadav and others, said that "the order upon charge shall be pronounced at 10:30 am on January 9".

During the proceedings, the CBI had submitted a verification report regarding the status of accused persons in the case, saying out of the 103 accused named in its chargesheet, five died.

The CBI filed chargesheets against Lalu Yadav, his wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, their son Tejashwi Yadav and others in connection with the alleged scam.

It alleged that appointments in the Group-D category of the West Central Zone of the Indian Railways based in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, were made during Lalu Yadav's tenure as the railway minister from 2004 to 2009 in return for land parcels gifted or transferred by the recruits in the names of the RJD supremo's family members or associates.

The CBI also claimed that the appointments were made in violation of norms and that the transactions involved benami properties, amounting to criminal misconduct and conspiracy.

The accused have denied the charges, claiming the case is politically motivated.