New Delhi, Sep 30 A Delhi court will hear arguments on charges against RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav and others afresh in the railways land-for-jobs-linked money laundering case.
Special Judge Prashant Kumar on Wednesday said, "Counsel for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeks some time to advance fresh arguments on the point of charge. Put up for arguments on charge on October 14."
Earlier, Special Judge Vishal Gogne had reserved the order on the framing of charges against the accused persons. The ED concluded its arguments on charge on March 16 this year.
Judge Gogne was later transferred to Dwarka courts. On Wednesday, the court staff informed that the judge had been transferred.
According to the Delhi High Court online information system, Judge Gogne has been a sitting registrar since September 22.
The money laundering case, filed under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), stems from a complaint lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
On January 9 this year, Judge Gogne had ordered framing corruption and cheating charges against 41 accused persons, including Lalu Prasad, his family members and others, in the CBI case.
The alleged money laundering scam in the present case pertains to the period when Lalu Prasad was the railway minister in the UPA-1 government.
In its first chargesheet, the ED had arrayed as accused the former Union railway minister's wife Rabri Devi, daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav; an alleged "close associate" of the Yadav family, Amit Katyal; a former railway employee, Hridayanand Chaudhary; and two companies, A K Infosystems Pvt Ltd and A B Exports Pvt Ltd, through their common director Shariqul Bari.
Lalu Prasad and his sons Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap were named as accused later.
It is alleged that from 2004 to 2009, several people were appointed to Group "D" positions in various zones of the Indian Railways for which they transferred their land to the family members of Lalu Prasad and a linked company named A K Infosystems Private Limited as bribes.
A K Infosystems Private Limited is allegedly a "beneficiary company" in the case and its registered address in south Delhi's New Friends Colony was being used by Tejashwi Yadav, the ED had alleged.
It claimed Katyal has been a director of this company, and A B Exports Pvt Ltd is a "shell" or fake company owned by Tejashwi Yadav and Chanda Yadav, and its registered address is also the New Friends Colony-located bungalow.
The ED also alleged that Rabri Devi and Hema Yadav sold four land parcels "illegally" acquired from appointees in the Railways to Meridian Construction India Ltd, a company related to Syed Abu Dojana, a former RJD MLA.
The "proceeds of crime" so obtained by Rabri Devi and Hema Yadav were further transferred through a maze of transactions to A B Exports Pvt Ltd and Bhagirathi Tubes respectively, the agency alleged.
"Rabri Devi and Hema Yadav sold these land parcels for Rs 3.5 crore against the acquisition cost of Rs 7.5 lakh, thus deriving huge gains," the ED had earlier claimed.
