In a big breather for Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the Delhi High Court on Thursday that it won’t be arresting him till March 31 in the alleged land-for-job scam case.
CBI told the court that it will file a chargesheet in the case against Yadav by March-end and he will have to physically appear before the probe agency on March 25. Yadav’s petition seeking quashing of summons issued to him by the CBI was listed for hearing on Thursday before Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma.
The plea submitted by Yadav argued that section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), under which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has issued the summons, states that notices for appearance of a person should be within the local jurisdiction of a police station or within the adjoining police station of the place the person is located, a PTI report said.
He raised objection to being summoned for investigation in Delhi which is neither within the jurisdiction of Patna nor adjoining the same. He said he is a resident of Patna in Bihar.
The land-for-jobs scam relates to alleged appointments made in the railways in return for land parcels gifted or sold to Lalu Prasad’s family when he was railway minister between 2004 and 2009. The CBI, in its charge sheet, alleged that irregular appointments were made in the railways, violating laid down norms and procedures of the Indian Railways for recruitment.
“The petitioner (Tejashwi Yadav) is currently holding a Constitutional post as he is serving as the deputy chief minister of Bihar, the minister of health, minister of road construction and public works department, minister of urban development and housing as well as the minister of rural works and development in the Bihar government and is thus, a public servant within a meaning of Section 2(c) of the Prevention and Corruption Act, 1988,” the petition filed on Monday said.
“Presently, the petitioner has been living in the state of Bihar and his current address is in Patna,” it said. The plea said the petitioner is required to join investigation within three days from receipt of the last notice dated March 11, whereas he had requested the investigating officer through multiple letters to allow him some time as the current Bihar assembly session will conclude on April 5.
Tejashwi Yadav said he had requested that either he be allowed to appear in the CBI office at Patna or if any information or documents are required from his side then he shall provide the same through his authorised representative at New Delhi.
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