LALU YADAV DENIED RELIEF FROM THE APEX COURT

LALU YADAV DENIED RELIEF FROM THE APEX COURT

18-JULY-ENG 24

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

PATNA-------------------------Former Railway Minister and RJD President Lalu Prasad Yadav has received a major setback from the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court refused to interfere with the May 29 order of the Delhi High Court, which refused to stay the trial going on in a special court in Delhi against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. This case was going on in the land for job case during his tenure as Railway Minister. Lalu Prasad Yadav had sought relief by stopping the trial going on in the lower court in this case.

A bench of Supreme Court Justices M.M. Sundaresh and N. Kotiswar Singh heard this petition. The Delhi High Court had said in its order on May 29 that there is no solid reason to stay the proceedings in the lower court in the case of giving land in exchange for job in the Railways. The High Court had issued notice to the central investigating agency on Yadav's plea to quash the CBI FIR and adjourned the hearing for August 12.

The petition filed on behalf of Lalu Yadav said that starting a new investigation by hiding the previous investigation and its closing reports was an abuse of the legal process. The petitioner argued that he was being harassed through an 'illegal' and malicious investigation in violation of his fundamental right to a fair investigation.

This case dates back to the year 2004 to 2009, when Lalu Yadav was the Railway Minister in the UPA government. There are allegations that many candidates were given jobs in the railways illegally, in return for which lands were registered in the name of Lalu's family and close ones. The CBI investigated the criminal aspect of this case, while the ED is looking into the money laundering aspect.