President grants prosecution sanction against Lalu Prasad in land-for-jobs 'scam'

New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu has granted sanction to prosecute RJD chief and former Union minister Lalu Prasad in the alleged land-for-jobs scam being investigated by the ED, official sources said.

Murmu has accorded the permission as mandated under section 197(1) of the CrPC and Section 218 of the BNSS, 2023, they said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) chargesheeted the 76-year-old former Bihar chief minister, his son and former deputy CM of the state, Tejashwi Yadav and other family members in August last year in the money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The case stems from a CBI FIR alleging that Lalu Prasad, the then Union Railway Minister, indulged in corruption in the appointment of Group D substitutes in the Indian Railways during 2004-2009.

The candidates or their family members were allegedly told to transfer land as a bribe in return for jobs in the Railways, according to the CBI FIR.

These land parcels allegedly were directly or indirectly registered in the name of the family members of Lalu Prasad. The CBI has also filed three chargesheets in this case.