ED To Question Tejashwi Yadav in Land-for-Job Scam

After the change of power in Bihar, all eyes are now on the ED investigation of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family. On Monday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned Lalu Prasad for over 9 hours in the land-for-job scam case. Today, the ED is set to question his son and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav.

Tejashwi Yadav is expected to reach the ED office at 11 am on Tuesday. Earlier, on December 22 and January 5, the ED had summoned Tejashwi Yadav for questioning, but he did not appear before the ED on both occasions. Prior to this, on April 11, 2023, the ED had questioned Tejashwi Yadav for 8 hours in this case.

The ED has issued a notice to Tejashwi Yadav for questioning just a day after the formation of the NDA government led by Nitish Kumar in Bihar. The ED had sent a notice to Tejashwi Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav on January 19 in the land-for-job case. On Monday, the ED questioned Lalu Yadav for a total of 9 hours.

Who is named in the chargesheet?

During the hearing in the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi, the information about the chargesheet filed by the ED was made available to the court. In the first chargesheet, the ED has included the names of Rabri Devi, Hema Yadav, Misa Bharti, Amit Katiyal, Hridayanand Chaudhary and some others. How the ED takes this case forward will be important for the political future of the Lalu family, especially Tejashwi Yadav.

What is the land-for-job scam?

The land-for-job scam pertains to the tenure of Lalu Prasad Yadav as the Railway Minister. At that time, there was recruitment for Group D posts in various departments of the Railways. According to the allegations, during this period, Lalu Yadav bought land worth lakhs of rupees from the families of the youth who were appointed at a throwaway price. This incident happened between 2004 and 2009. After the case was revealed, the CBI registered a case against 17 people, including Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti and Tejashwi Yadav on May 18, 2022.