The Supreme Court on Monday refused to quash a CBI
FIR in the land-for-jobs case involving RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and his
family members.
A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar
Singh, however, granted exemption to the 77-year-old former Bihar chief
minister from appearance before the trial court during the proceedings.
The top court allowed Yadav to raise the issue of
the applicability of Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act in the
case.
The Delhi High Court had on March 24 refused to
quash a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR in the case involving Yadav
and his family members, rejecting the RJD chief's contention that the agency's
action was legally unsustainable in the absence of prior sanction under Section
17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The land-for-jobs case is related to
Group D appointments made in the West Central Zone of the Indian Railways in
Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, during Yadav's tenure as the railways minister
between 2004 and 2009, allegedly in return for land parcels gifted or
transferred by the recruits in the name of his family members or associates,
officials said.
Yadav had contended that the inquiry, FIR, as well
as the investigation and subsequent chargesheets in the matter, were legally
unsustainable in the absence of prior sanction taken by the CBI under Section
17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.