Land-for-job case: Delhi court summons Lalu Prasad, Tejashwi & Tej Pratap Yadav

Former Bihar minister and elder son of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, Tej Pratap Yadav has been summoned by the Rouse Avenue court in the national Capital Delhi on Wednesday in the land-for-job money laundering case.

Tej Pratap is the sixth member of Lalu Prasad’s family, whose name has figured in the case. The other members, besides Lalu Prasad are former Bihar CM Rabri Devi, former deputy CM and leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav, and daughters, Lok Sabha MP Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav.

The court said that Tej Pratap Yadav’s involvement could not be ruled out. Although he was not initially charge-sheeted, he was a director at AK Infosys Ltd and has now been summoned.

All of them have been asked to appear before the court on October 7.

Also Read: Land-for-jobs case: Delhi HC grants bail to businessman Amit Katyal

Other charge-sheeted individuals who have been summoned include Akhileshwar Singh and his wife, Kiran Devi. The court also clarified that while Singh was made an accused by the ED, his wife Kiran was not initially charged.

Rabri Devi and other accused Misa, Heema Yadav and Hridayananda Chaudhary were granted regular bail in the ED case on March 7, this year while former deputy CM Tejashwi was granted bail by the court on October 4, 2023.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a supplementary chargesheet on August 6, listing 11 accused as Lallan Chaudhary, Hazari Rai, Dharmender Kumar, Akhileshwar Singh, Ravinder Kumar, Lal Babu Rai, Sonmatia Devi, Kishun Dev Rai, and Sanjay Rai.

Four of them, Lallan Chaudhary, Lal Babu Rai, Kishun Dev Rai, and Sonmatia Devi, have died, and proceedings against them have abated.

Reacting to the developments, Janata Dal United (JD-U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar hit out at Tejashwi over the summons.

“He was telling that he had planned a foreign visit after court’s permission and now court has issued summons against him in money laundering case. The summon is for appearance during Navratri,” he added.

Meanwhile, RJD leader Shakti Singh Yadav said the summons had been issued on the basis of supplementary chargesheet and it was nothing new.

“The agencies in this country, which the BJP manipulates for its own purposes, keep targeting opposition leaders. This is a political move. As Tejashwi Yadav’s political activity increases, the BJP and its allies become alert and take notice,” he added.