Railways land-for-jobs 'scam': SC refuses to hear ED's plea against bail to Lalu aide

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to examine a plea of the ED against the bail granted to RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's close aide and businessman Amit Katyal in a money laundering case linked to the alleged land-for-jobs scam in the Indian Railways.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal said it was not inclined to interfere with the Delhi High Court order.

"No big fish. Main persons have not been arrested. Why go on after only small flies? Are you afraid of going after them? Why have you not arrested 11 other accused?" the bench said.

Additional solicitor general S V Raju said the order of the high court was bad in law and needed to be set aside.

The high court on September 17 last year granted bail to Katyal while deprecating the "pick and choose" policy adopted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The high court noted despite no other accused being arrested in the case and given Katyal had joined the probe, he was unceremoniously held from the Indira Gandhi International Airport before he took off for Ranchi.

The bail order said the agency did not explain the necessity of his arrest and while it reflected a "pick and choose policy", but also entitled Katyal to bail on the ground that his role was "much less" than the other accused.

Katyal, who was arrested by the ED on November 10, 2023 under various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), was granted bail by the high court on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10 lakh and two sureties of the like amount.

While he sought bail on parity, arguing the ED couldn't adopt a pick and choose policy, indicating discrimination, the ED argued Katyal actively assisted Yadav and his family members while handling the proceeds generated through alleged corrupt practices of the RJD supremo who was then the railway minister.

The high court said no other accused were arrested in the ED case, though they were the alleged to be the main perpetrators or beneficiaries of the offence under the PMLA, and chargesheeted.

Katyal, the court said, was not a flight risk as he joined the investigation and never evaded summons.

The ED claimed that Katyal was the director of a company named A K Infosystems Private Limited, which acquired land from candidates on behalf of Yadav.

Some other members of the RJD supremo's family are also accused in the case.

On May 22, a trial court dismissed Katyal's bail application, saying there were no sufficient grounds to grant him the relief, after which he approached the high court.

The case is related to Group D appointments made in the West Central Zone of the Indian Railways based in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, during Yadav's tenure as the rail minister between 2004 and 2009 in return for land parcels gifted or transferred by the recruits in the name of the RJD supremo's family or associates, officials said.

A case was registered on May 18, 2022, against Yadav and others, including his wife, two daughters, unidentified public officials and private persons.