After ED charge-sheet, Tejashwi claims ‘no substance’ in case

Patna, Aug 7 (PTI) A day after the Enforcement Directorate filed a supplementary charge-sheet in the land-for-jobs scam, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday claimed that there was “no substance” in the case.

The former Bihar deputy chief minister was responding to queries from journalists about the case pertaining to a period when he was a minor but his father Lalu Prasad, the RJD president, was the Railway Minister.

“There is nothing new in the case. It is not the first time that a charge-sheet has been filed against us. The case has no substance (koi dum nahin hai). We have full faith in the court and treat the development as routine, as a mere formality,” he told reporters.

Yadav, who is now leader of the opposition in the state assembly, also trained his guns at the Nitish Kumar government over alleged deterioration in law and order, an issue he has been raising relentlessly for a while.

He referred to the acquittal, by a court in Patna, of all the accused in the high-profile Rupesh Singh murder case.

Singh, an executive with a private airline who was known to be popular among the state’s political elite, was gunned down close to his home in Patna three-and-a-half-years ago, triggering shock waves across the city.

“The accused were let off since the police failed to properly carry out the investigation and collect evidence. Ultimately it is a failure of state government,” Yadav alleged.

The young leader was also asked about his proposed state-wide yatra, which is being seen as an attempt to mobilise public support in favour of the INDIA bloc ahead of assembly polls due next year.

The RJD leader replied, “The matter is being discussed at the party level. Details like when it would commence and which places to cover are being worked out. As stated earlier, it will start after Independence Day. More details will be shared in due course.”

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday filed a supplementary charge-sheet against ex-railway minister Lalu Prasad, his son Tejashwi Yadav and eight others in the land-for-jobs scam.

The charge sheet was filed before Special Judge Vishal Gogne, who posted the matter for consideration on August 13. The ED’s case stems from an FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The case pertains to Group-D appointments made in West Central Zone of the railways in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh during Prasad’s tenure as railway minister from 2004 to 2009 in return for land parcels gifted or transferred by the recruits in the name of the RJD supremo’s family or associates, according to the ED.