New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Friday, refused to grant a stay to former railway minister and Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in the ongoing trial in the alleged land-for-jobs scam.
Lalu, through senior advocate Kapil Sibal had moved the Supreme Court after the Delhi High Court refused to grant a stay in the matter.
After being told that the petition is only challenging an interim order of the High Court and the main matter is pending there, the bench of Justice M M Sundresh and Justice N Kotiswar Singh observed that it will not interfere.
“We will not stay. We will dismiss the appeal and we will say that let the main matter be decided. Why should we keep this small matter?,” Justice Sundresh said.
The bench however observed that Lalu need not be personally present during the trial. The bench also requested the High Court to expedite the hearing of Yadav’s petition challenging the cognizance taken by the trial court.
Sibal sought stay by contending that there was no prior approval obtained by CBI under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act (prior sanction before initiating investigation against public servant). The Delhi High Court while declining to stay the trial, observed that this was a ground which could be raised during the framing of charges.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju submitted that Section 17A sanction was not required in the case as it pertained to offences committed before the 2018 amendment of the Prevention of Corruption Act (which inserted Section 17A).
Sibal countered by saying: “The enthusiasm is telling. He (Lalu) was a minister from 2005 to 2009. FIR filed in 2021. Investigation cannot start without a sanction. For all other government servants they have taken sanction except him.”
The Supreme Court bench, however, said that it will not go into the merits of the matter at this stage.
According to the CBI, the alleged offences relate to appointments made in Group-D posts in various Railway zones between 2004 and 2009, during Yadav’s tenure as railway minister. In return for these appointments, the candidates or their family members allegedly transferred land in favour of Yadav’s family members and a private company named M/s AK Infosystems Pvt Ltd.
This company was later acquired by the Yadav family. The CBI filed its chargesheet on October 10, 2022, against 16 persons, including Lalu, his wife Rabri Devi, and daughter Misa Bharti.