A history of scams: Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family, now in ED’s crosshairs

Earlier this week, when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a chargesheet in an investigation referred to as the land for job scam, the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) first family — former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife and former Bihar CM Rabri Devi, as well as two daughters, Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav — were once reminded that their political star was on the back foot. The RJD reacted strongly, calling the chargesheet a “political vendetta” against families of opposition parties. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has already filed a chargesheet against RJD chief Lalu Prasad, younger son and deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and others in July 2023.

With the Lok Sabha polls later this year, RJD leaders, including Tejashwi, are putting on a brave face. They call these chargesheets an act of desperation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government to silence opposition parties ahead of the crucial general polls.

“The ED, CBI and Income Tax are now in a hyperactive mode. This will all happen till the polls as it is a ploy to divert attention,” said Manoj Jha, the RJD MP and spokesperson, a few days ago. The most recent chargesheet, filed against Rabri and Lalu’s two daughters, was “politically motivated” he said, and accused the Centre of not sparing even the daughters of opposition leaders. The RJD, which is part of the opposition Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, may well make these chargesheets a poll agenda.

Background

In his heydays, RJD chief Lalu Prasad used to boast how all fingers of his hands and toes in his legs had cylindrical markings resembling “chakras” which was indicative of a divine message that he will rule for 20 years. The humble man from a village in Phulwaria, Gopalganj rose to power in the 1990s and stayed in power till 1997. His wife was CM from 1997 till.

The last two decades were marred with charges of scams. It began in 1996, the year after Prasad had scripted history by winning a majority on his own in the assembly polls — an election known for the reforms enacted by the then Election Commissioner T N Seshan.

Known as an astute politician and kingmaker, Lalu played a key role in the appointment of prime ministers in the United Front government of 1996 and ’97.

He was first accused in the first fodder scam that pertained to the fraudulent withdrawals of money from treasuries.

There are six fodder scams in which the RJD chief is co-accused. ₹950 crore was reportedly withdrawn fraudulently from different treasuries of undivided Bihar (the state got bifurcated in 2000 with the formation of Jharkhand) by generating fake bills to the animal husbandry department. He has been convicted in five, and the trial in the six is still ongoing.

Lalu was first convicted on September 30, 2013, and awarded five years in jail for the fraudulent withdrawal of ₹37.7 crore from the Chaibasa treasury. The conviction barred Yadav from contesting elections for 11 years. In 2017, Lalu was convicted for fraudulent withdrawal of over ₹89 lakh from Deoghar treasury and sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison. He was granted bail in July 2021 after completing half the sentence. In 2018, Lalu was pronounced guilty of the illegal withdrawal of ₹33.13 crore from the Chaibasa treasury, and awarded five years of imprisonment. The same year, he was found guilty in his fourth fodder scam case pertaining to the fraudulent withdrawal of ₹3.76 crore from the Dumka treasury. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison while the special court (CBI) also imposed a fine of ₹60 lakh. In 2022, a special CBI court announced a five-year jail sentence and ₹60 lakh fine for illegal withdrawals worth ₹139.5 crore from the Doranda treasury. He was granted bail in both cases.

The sixth case pertains to an alleged fraudulent withdrawal of ₹46.98 lakh from the Bhagalpur treasury. According to the FIR, Lalu Prasad passed the files of forged bills of ₹47 lakh in his capacity as state finance minister despite being informed about the sanctioned budget of ₹1 lakh to purchase veterinary medicines. The charge sheet was submitted in 2003. In March 2012, the special CBI court framed the charges.

Lalu is currently out on bail.

The CBI’s case against Yadav

The scam pertains to allegations that the RJD chief and his family members received land parcels in lieu of grants of group D jobs in the Indian Railway during Lalu Prasad’s stint as railway minister between 2004 and 2009 during the UPA-1 government.

The case surfaced around 2008 when the JD(U) — then a constituent of the NDA in Bihar — levelled the allegations against Prasad. A CBI probe was ordered and the agency filed a chargesheet against Lalu, Rabri Devi, eldest daughter Misa Bharti, also an MP and 15 others. The second charge sheet was filed in July 2023 against Lalu, Rabri, younger son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and 14 others.

In it, the CBI claimed that 12 candidates from Patna were appointed to Group D posts in various zones including Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hajipur. Land parcels were sold either directly or through their family members and relatives, to Lalu Prasad’s family members.

“During the period 2007-08, when he was Union minister of railways, with the intent to acquire the land parcels situated in Village Mahuabagh, Patna and Village Kunjwa, Patna which were situated adjacent to the land parcels already owned by his family members, entered into criminal conspiracy with his wife Rabri Devi, daughter Misa Bharati, officers of central railways and others and in pursuance thereto irregular appointments of candidates were made in Central railway, violating the laid down norms of Indian railways for recruitment,” CBI stated.

“As quid pro quo, the candidates directly or through their immediate relatives/family members, sold land to the family members of Lalu Yadav at highly discounted rates up to 1/4th to 1/5th of the prevailing market rates,” the charge sheet stated.

Reports said the CBI has estimated that Lalu’s family acquired over 1 lakh sq ft of land for ₹26 lakh while the circle rate at the time puts the land’s cumulative value at more than ₹4.39 crore.

Based on the CBI case, the ED started conducting a money-laundering probe in the land for job scams. The ED claimed it had detected proceeds of crime (PoC) worth ₹600 crore in the land-for-jobs case. It alleged that Lalu’s family purchased land parcels at ₹3.75 lakh to ₹13 lakh, far below the existing rates.

The ED filed charge sheets against Rabri Devi, daughters Misa and Hema, as well as four more on January 9.

The RJD chief and his family members are facing yet another charge of corruption in the IRCTC scam case that pertains to the alleged transfer of prime land in Patna against transfers of operation-maintenance contracts of two hotels belonging to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) in Ranchi and Puri to a private el company called Sujata Hotels owned by Vinay and Vijay Kochar.

The contracts were provided for ₹1.5 crore paid to a benami company called Delight Marketing Company, which was eventually transferred to Rabri Devi and Tejashwi, the allegations state. The CBI has filed the case against Lalu, Rabri, Tejashwi, and Sarla Gupta (wife of former Union minister Premchand Gupta) among others.

The CBI filed a charge sheet in the case in 2018 under charges of criminal conspiracy (120-B), cheating (420) under IPC and corruption. Lalu, Rabri and Tejashwi have received bail in this case.

In 1998, a disproportionate assets ( DA) case was registered against Lalu and Rabri by the CBI and the Income Tax department during the course of the investigations into the fodder scam cases. The case pertained to charges of Lalu amassing ₹46 lakh from government treasuries. Both Lalu and Rabri were acquitted in the case by a lower court in 2007.

Responses

After the ED’s chargesheet earlier this week, Manoj Jha, RJD spokesperson, said the case was fictitious while claiming that the Indian Railways and the CBI had found no substance in the allegations. Jha said that the FIRs related to the case were filed in 2008 in several places, and subsequently, the CBI filed closure reports as nothing substantive was found in the charges. Jha alleged that the case was reopened under the direction of “two people” in 2021.

The opposition BJP has been vocal against the RJD and accused it of patronising corruption. Referring to the chargesheet against Rabri Devi and her daughters, BJP MP and senior leader Sushil Kumar Modi said the RJD spokesperson should explain why a certain Hridyanand Choudhary (one of the persons who got a railway job) transferred land free of cost to Hema Yadav. “Why was land received by Rabri Devi and Hema Yadav as gifts?” Modi claimed.