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New Delhi: In a major development, Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court on Friday granted bail to Lalu Prasad Yadav’s wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, along with their two daughters, till February 28 in the land-for-jobs scam.
The move came after Rabri Devi and her daughter, Misa Bharti, who are accused in the money laundering case, appeared in the court for a hearing in connection with the scam case. They were summoned by the court after taking Cognizance of a charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The matter has been listed for consideration on bail on February 28.
Granting bail, the court stated that the probe agency sought time to file a reply to the bail application. The court also submitted that while the accused were not arrested during the course of the investigation, a formal reply may still be required.
A PMLA court had earlier issued notices against Amit Katyal, Rabri Devi, Misha Bharti, Hema Yadav, and Hridyanand Chaudhary to be present on February 9, 2024, for further trial in the alleged ‘land for job scam’, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) stated in a release.
Later, counsel for accused persons submitted that they were entitled to bail. A video shared by sources showed Rabri Devi and her daughter Misa Bharti at the Delhi court after they were summoned.
On Monday, a Delhi court granted interim bail on medical grounds to Amit Katyal who was apprehended last year in a money laundering case connected to the alleged land-for-jobs scam involving RJD chief Lalu Prasad and several members of his family.
Katyal was first detained and later, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on November 11, 2023, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The central agency alleged that Katyal had “acquired” land from several aspirants on behalf of the RJD chief and former Union railways minister.
The ED claimed that Katyal was the director of a company called AK Infosystems Private Limited, which acquired land from candidates “on behalf” of Lalu Prasad. “The registered address of the company is D-1088, New Friends Colony, New Delhi, which is the house belonging to Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members.
Several other lands were also acquired by Amit Katyal in the said company in return for giving undue favours by Lalu Prasad when he was minister of railways,” the agency alleged in a statement issued on Monday. After acquiring the land, it said, shares of the said company were “transferred” to the family members of Lalu Prasad in 2014.
Katyal, as per the ED, is a “close aide” of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo and has been evading summons for interrogation in the case for about two months.
