Land-for-Jobs-Scam: Delhi Court to Hold Day-to-Day Hearings from Oct 13 in case against Lalu Yadav & Others
Delhi Court ordered summons to three more accused in Enforcement Directorate’s money laundering case involving Lalu Prasad Yadav, directed day-to-day hearing from October 13, 2025
Delhi court orders day-to-day hearings in land-for-jobs money laundering case
A Delhi Court on September 20 ordered day-to-day hearings in the money laundering case against RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members in connection with the alleged land-for-jobs scam.
The Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne directed that hearings will be held daily from October 13 to resolve issues related to providing the accused with clear copies of case documents.
“The matter shall next be taken up on day-to-day basis to address any concerns or objections raised by the accused relatable to section 207 Cr.PC… In order to ensure quick resolution of any probable grievance of the accused persons relating to non-supply of legible copies of the supplied documents, it is directed that the counsel for the ED and the respective counsels for the accused persons, along with the IO, shall be at liberty to inspect the original court record in the presence of the Ahlmad,” the Court said in its order.
The order came while issuing summons on the second supplementary chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which named seven additional accused.
The Court directed the ED to file an amended memo of parties with appropriate renumbering of all accused persons. Copies of the supplementary complaint and sanction orders relating to A-8 (Lalu Prasad Yadav) were also ordered to be supplied to the accused already summoned.
The Court further directed the ED to provide both soft and hard copies of the list of unrelied documents within one week, while ensuring accused persons get legible copies of all relied-upon materials. To address disputes on document quality, counsels for the accused were permitted to inspect original court records, obtain scanned copies, and even take photographs in the presence of the Ahlmad and ED officials.
The matter will now be heard on a day-to-day basis from October 13, 2025, to address objections under Section 207 CrPC.
In a related news, on July 18, the Apex Court had refused a plea by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav against an order refusing to stay the trial court's proceedings against him in relation to the land for jobs scam. The Bench had said that it would not interfere for such a small matter and let the High Court decide the main issue of quashing the chargesheet.
The Delhi High Court had in May dismissed a plea filed by the former Union Railway Minister seeking quashing of the FIR, chargesheets and the cognisance taken by the trial court in connection with the land-for-job scam being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
In 2023 a Delhi court had granted bail to Tejashwi Yadav, Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi in relation to a fresh CBI chargesheet in alleged land-for-job scam case. Special Judge Geetanjali Goel of the Rouse Avenue Court had granted relief to the accused persons after they appeared before the court in pursuance of summons issued against them.
In July 2023, CBI had filed a chargesheet against Lalu, his wife and their son in connection with the alleged scam. It was the second chargesheet filed by CBI in the case. Besides the three members of the Yadav family, the federal agency had also named 14 individuals and entities in the chargesheet.
The accused have been charged under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The CBI’s case is that Lalu Prasad Yadav, as Railways Minister from 2004 to 2009, received financial benefits in form of transfer of land property in the names of his family members in exchange for the appointment of substitutes in Group "D" posts in various Railway zones such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Jaipur, Jabalpur, and Hajipur.
CBI alleged that “in lieu thereof, the substitutes, who were residents of Patna themselves or through their family members sold and gifted their land situated at Patna in favor of the family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav and a private company controlled by family members, which was also involved in the transfer of such immovable properties in the name of family members.”
CBI also alleged that no advertisement or public notice was issued for the appointment of Substitutes in Zonal Railways, yet substitutes from Patna were appointed as substitutes in different Zonal Railways and that undue haste was shown in processing candidates' applications and their appointments as substitutes were approved. Furthermore, the agency alleged that the due procedure and guidelines/instructions issued by the Railway Authority for the appointment of Substitutes in Railways were not followed and later on, their services had also been regularized.
Case Title: ED v. Amit Katyal
Order Date: September 20, 2025
Bench: Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne