Land-for-jobs case: Railway Ministry exerted excessive pressure to clear applications, claims CBI

Special Judge Vishal Gogne hears land-for-jobs scam case involving Lalu Prasad, highlighting pressure and forged certificates.

The CBI has claimed before a Delhi court that during Lalu Prasad's tenure as the Railway Minister, the Ministry exerted inordinate pressure to clear the job applications of Group-D candidates who allegedly gifted or transferred land parcels in the name of the RJD supremo's family or associates.

Special Judge Vishal Gogne was hearing the arguments on charges in the alleged land-for-jobs scam, where appointments were made in the West Central Zone of Railways based in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, between 2004 and 2009 when Lalu Prasad was the Railway Minister.

During the proceedings on Monday, special public prosecutor D.P. Singh underlined that all applicants who had applied for the posts were from Bihar and these were largely poor people, for whom securing a government job would be beneficial.

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Mr. Singh said that on a particular day, multiple applications were cleared with "speed" vis-a-vis the generally "tedious" process of clearing applications.

"How did it happen so quickly? We have approvers who tell us that the pressure (from the Ministry) was enormous. Most certificates were forged and never verified. No exigency was given or justification provided to hire substitutes (in the posts). How can so many applications in bulk be decided instantly," the prosecutor said.

According to CBI's chargesheet, the candidates directly or through their relatives, sold land to Lalu Prasad at highly discounted rates and that Lalu's family acquired over 1 lakh sq ft of land for only ₹26 lakh as against the circle rate of more than ₹4.39 crore.