President grants prosecution sanction against Lalu Prasad in land-for-jobs PMLA case
New Delhi, May 8 (PTI): President Droupadi Murmu has granted sanction to prosecute RJD chief and former Union minister Lalu Prasad in the money laundering case linked to the alleged railways land-for-jobs scam, official sources said on Thursday.
Murmu has accorded the permission as mandated under section 197(1) of the CrPC (Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023), they said.
The case has been investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and the federal probe agency 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.
Before this, in January 2024, the ED had filed its first chargesheet against an alleged associate of the Prasad family, Amit Katyal, and other family members of Prasad, including his wife and former Bihar CM Rabri Devi, MP daughter Misa Bharti, another daughter Hema Yadav and two associated companies -- A K Infosystems Private Limited and A B Exports Pvt. Ltd.
A special PMLA court in Delhi has taken cognisance of both these chargesheets (prosecution complaints).
The case stems from a CBI FIR alleging that 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 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.
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Minister Parameshwara says remarks on properties linked to drug peddlers 'misunderstood'
Tumakuru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said his recent remarks on the demolition of properties linked to those involved in narcotics trade were "misunderstood and misinterpreted".
His clarification follows remarks made two days ago on the government's uncompromising crackdown on the drug menace, including action against properties linked to foreign nationals allegedly involved in drug trafficking.
"It is unfortunate. It is taken in the wrong sense. I didn't mean that tomorrow itself I am going to send bulldozers and demolish the houses. That was not my intention. It was wrongly taken," he told reporters here.
Responding to Congress MLC K Abdul Jabbar's question in the legislative council on the growing drug menace in Bengaluru, Davangere and coastal districts, the minister on Thursday detailed the extensive enforcement measures initiated since the Congress government assumed office.
Pointing to the involvement of some foreign nationals, the minister had said, "Many foreign students from African countries have come to Karnataka. They are into the drug business. We catch them and register cases against them, but they want the case to be registered because once the case is registered, we cannot deport them."
"We have gone to the extent of demolishing the rented building where they stay," he had said.
