Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav asked the Delhi High Court on Monday to quash the CBI's First Information Report (FIR) in the land-for-jobs scam case, arguing it was registered without the necessary official sanction.
Yadav's counsel, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, argued before Justice Ravinder Dudeja that the CBI investigation was "illegal."
"CBI registered the FIR without mandatory sanction under the PC (Prevention of Corruption) Act. That makes the entire investigation illegal. In the absence of the sanction, the investigation could not have begun. Entire proceedings are wrong," senior advocate Kapil Sibal argued.
Sibal said sanction was required for Yadav was then discharging official duties as the Railways Minister.
"We are challenging lack of sanction... We are only interested in setting aside the RC," he added.
The CBI, meanwhile, accused Yadav of not completing his argument on charge before the trial court "on purpose".
"Arguments will be complete tomorrow before trial court. On purpose they're not completing their arguments before trial court," the CBI counsel said.
The judge noted that the lack of sanction, "even if accepted, would apply only to offences under the PC Act, not the IPC." The hearing is scheduled to continue on September 25.
On July 18, the Supreme Court had refused to stay the trial court proceedings in the case, following a similar decision by the high court on May 29, which found no "compelling reason" to do so.
The case involves Group D appointments made in the West Central Zone of the Indian Railways in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, during Yadav's tenure as Railways Minister between 2004 and 2009. The appointments were allegedly made in exchange for land parcels that were gifted or transferred by the recruits to Yadav's family or associates.
The FIR was registered on May 18, 2022 against Yadav and others, including his wife, two daughters, unidentified public officials, and private individuals.
Yadav's petition claims the FIR was lodged in 2022 after an almost 14-year delay, despite the CBI's initial enquiries being closed after a closure report was filed. "Initiation of the fresh investigation in the concealment of the previous investigations and its closure reports is nothing but an abuse of the process of law," the petition states.
The petitioner argued that he was being subjected to an "illegal, motivated investigation" in violation of his fundamental right to a fair investigation. Yadav called the situation an act of "regime revenge and political vendetta," arguing that the investigation's initiation without approval constituted a "jurisdictional error" that vitiated the entire proceedings from the start.
Also read: When Rahul put full stop on Lalu Yadav's political career
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