CBI grills Tejaswi while ED questions his sister Misa Bharati in the land for jobs scam

RJD Supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav's son and deputy chief minister of Bihar Tejaswi Yadav on Saturday appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the land for jobs scam.  Lalu's daughter Misa Bharati faced the Directorate of Enforcement in connection with the same case.

Tejaswi Yadav was grilled by CBI sleuths at the agency's headquarters in Delhi. The central investigating agency is probing the role of Lalu Yadav, the former Railway Minister in the UPA Government, and his kin in the land for jobs scam.

According to the CBI, job aspirants were offered jobs in the railways when Lalu Yadav was the railways' minister from 2004 to 2009 in exchange for land allegedly surrendered by them to the Yadav family and their associates.

Tejaswi was summoned by the agency to appear on March 4 and 11, for questioning in the case but he skipped the summons and had approached the Delhi High Court challenging the action of the agency to call him for questioning. The matter was taken up for hearing on March 16 when Tejaswi through his lawyer agreed to appear before CBI as the agency said that there were no plans to arrest him in the matter. Tejaswi left the CBI office around 8 pm.

The CBI action was in continuation with the questioning of Lalu Yadav and his wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi earlier this month. 

Lalu Yadav’s daughter Misa, also a Rajya Sabha MP, appeared before the ED officials for questioning on Saturday morning. She left the agency headquarters in the evening. According to sources she has not been given a date yet to reappear before the agency again. She however maintained that she has been assisting with the investigations and would continue to do so.

The ED's action is a follow-up on the CBI's investigation, which is now probing the acquisition of assets by the Yadav family in the wake of the proceeds generated by corrupt practices in wake of the scam.

Earlier in October last year, CBI had filed a chargesheet against Lalu Prasad, the former railway minister, his wife Rabri Devi and 14 others in connection with an alleged land-for-jobs scam during his tenure in the Railways.

Lalu’s daughter Misa and a former general manager of the Railways were also named as accused in the charge sheet filed before a special CBI court recently.