A Delhi court on Monday allowed Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, an accused in an alleged land-for-job scam in the railways, to travel abroad from October 24 to November 1. Special Judge Geetanjali Goel allowed Yadav to travel to Japan on a personal bond of Rs 25 lakh and directed him to submit his travel itineraries.
The court also allowed exemption from personal appearance for the day to Yadav and RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Yadav's mother Rabri Devi, who are also accused in the case. The judge had on October 4 granted bail to the accused persons in the case, and asked them not to leave the country without court's prior permission.
The court had on September 22 summoned the accused after taking cognisance of a charge sheet filed by the CBI against them and other accused, saying the evidence prima facie showed commission of various offences, including corruption, criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery. The agency had on July 3 filed the charge sheet in connection with the alleged scam.
Lalu Prasad is out on bail in this case as well as fodder scam cases. It was the second charge sheet filed by the CBI in the case but the first in which Tejashwi Yadav has been named as an accused.
The case pertains to Group-D appointments made in West Central Zone of the railways based in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh during Lalu Prasad's tenure as the railway minister from 2004 to 2009 in return for land parcels gifted or transferred by the recruits in the name of the RJD supremo's family or associates, according to officials. The CBI registered the case on May 18, 2022 against Lalu Prasad and 15 others including his wife, two daughters, and unidentified public servants and private persons.
The central agency had filed the first charge sheet in the case in October last year against Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi and others. It was related to appointments made in the Mumbai-headquartered Central Zone of the railways.
(Edited by : Sangam Singh)
