Supreme Court refuses Lalu Yadav's plea to stay trial in land-for-jobs case

The Supreme Court of India today 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.

A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh has said that it would not interfere for such a small matter and let the High Court decide the main issue of quashing the chargesheet.

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).

A bench led by Justice Ravindra Dudeja had issued a notice to the CBI, asking it to file its reply within six weeks. It also clarified that the petitioner would be at liberty to raise all his contentions before the trial court at the stage of framing of charges.

Before the High Court, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Yadav had argued that the CBI had failed to obtain mandatory sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Yadav and that the trial court also ignored the said illegality committed by the CBI during the investigation.

While placing reliance on various rulings of the Supreme Court and High Court, Sibal asserted that without mandatory approval under Section 17A of the PC Act, the initiation of the enquiries and investigation is invalid. He also argued that there was a delay in the registration of the FIR.

On the other hand, Senior Advocate D.P. Singh, representing the CBI, vehemently opposed the stay on trial proceedings. CBI submitted that the legal question as to whether Section 17A applies to pre-2018 offences is under consideration before the Supreme Court's Larger Bench, and no final ruling has come as of now.

The present case, being probed by the CBI and the ED, stems from allegations against Lalu Prasad Yadav, who was then serving as the Union Railway Minister. It is alleged that jobs in the Railways were given in exchange for land parcels.

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: Lalu Prasad Yadav vs. CBI

Judgement Date: July 18, 2025

Bench: Justices MM Sundresh and Kotiswar Singh