The Delhi High Court has dismissed a plea moved by RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav seeking to stay the trial court proceedings in the corruption case related to the alleged land for jobs scam case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The matter is listed before the special judge of Rouse Avenue Courts on June 02 for arguments on charge.
Justice Ravinder Dudeja found no compelling reasons to stay the proceedings of the trial court in the case.
The Court issued notice on Yadav’s plea seeking quashing of the CBI FIR, three chargesheets as well as the trial court orders taking cognizance of the said chargesheets.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for Yadav also filed an application seeking stay of the trial court proceedings, claiming that CBI failed to obtain mandatory sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. He said that the initiation of investigation without such an approval vitiates the entire proceedings since inception and the same is a jurisdictional error.
As per section 17A, a police officer cannot start an inquiry or investigation against a public servant for corruption without prior sanction, if the alleged offence is linked to a decision or recommendation the public servant made while doing the official duty.
It was submitted that matter is listed before the Special Judge for arguments on charge on June 02 and if the arguments are heard and charges are finalized, the petition may become infructuous.
Sibal thus requested that the proceedings pending before the Special Judge be stayed.
Senior Advocate DP Singh appearing for CBI vehemently opposed the plea submitting that the question of applicability of Section 17A to the offences under the PC Act existing prior to its amendment is pending consideration before the Larger Bench of the Supreme Court.
He said that the submissions can be considered by the special judge at the stage of framing of charges.
Dismissing the stay application, Justice Dudeja said that the matter is listed before the Special Judge for arguments on charge and notwithstanding, the pendency of the petition, Yadav would be at liberty to urge all his contentions before the trial court at the stage of consideration of charge.
“This would be rather an added opportunity to the petitioner to put-forth his point and get the same adjudicated,” the Court said.
“Thus, I find no compelling reasons to stay the proceedings of the trial court. The application for stay is therefore dismissed,” it concluded.
It is Yadav’s case that the investigations in the case have been initiated without obtaining a sanction mandated by Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. As per the plea, the said illegality was also ignored by the special judge.
Yadav has contended that he is being made to suffer through an “illegal motivated investigation” in clear violation of his fundamental right to fair investigation.
“Without such approval, any enquiry/inquiry/investigation undertaken would devoid ob initio. Section 17A of the PC Act provides a filter from vexatious litigation. The present scenario of regime revenge and political vendetta is exactly what Section 17A seeks to restrict by protecting innocent persons. The initiation of investigation without such approval vitiates the entire proceedings since inception and the same is a jurisdictional error,” the plea states.
It adds that the very registration of the preliminary enquiry and registration of the FIR were barred by Section 17A of the PC Act as it related to public servants. The filing of charge sheets and passing of the cognizance orders and all consequent actions must fall, the plea states.
CBI had filed a chargesheet in the case on October 10, 2022, against 16 persons. Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, daughter Misa Bharti and other individuals are accused in the matter.
It is the case of the agency that various residents of Bihar were appointed as substitutes in “Group-D posts” from 2004 to 2009 in different zones of Railways located at Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hajipur.
It has been alleged that in lieu of the same, the individuals themselves or their families transferred their land in the name of then Union Minister of Railways Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family members and a company namely M/s AK Infosystems Private Limited, which was subsequently taken over by his family members.
CBI had claimed that the appointments made in the railways were not in consonance with the standards and guidelines established by the Indian Railways for hiring.
Title: SHRI LALU PRASAD YADAV v. CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
