Delhi High Court Refuses To Quash CBI FIR Against RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav In Land For Jobs Scam

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed the plea moved by RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav seeking to quash the corruption case related to the alleged land for jobs scam case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Justice Ravinder Dudeja refused to quash the CBI FIR, three chargesheets as well as the trial court orders taking cognizance of the said chargesheets.

The Court said that Yadav's plea is devoid of any merits and thus, dismissed the same.

Justice Dudeja held that Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 is prospective in operation and has no application to offences alleged to have been committed between 2004 and 2009. 

The Court ruled that the absence of prior approval under the said provision does not vitiate the preliminary enquiry, registration of the FIR, investigation, or the cognizance orders passed by the Special Judge. 

“Moreover, the bar under Section 17A of the Act, shall not apply in the present case as the alleged act is not relatable to any recommendations or decisions taken by the petitioner in discharge of his official functions or duties. The petition, being devoid of merit, is accordingly dismissed,” the Court said.

It also observed that extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 or the inherent powers under Section 482 of Cr.P.C cannot be invoked to bypass statutory limitations or to derail a prosecution at the threshold of trial.

The Court observed that the alleged acts cannot be construed as recommendations or decisions taken by Yadav in discharge of official functions so as to attract the requirement of prior approval under Section 17-A of the PC Act.

It held that the bar under Section 17A of the PC Act does not apply to the investigation conducted into all or every offence under the legislation, allegedly committed by the public servant. 

The Court said that when any recommendation or decision is made by a public servant which is not directly or reasonably connected with his official functions or duties, he is not entitled to get protection under Section 17A of the Act. 

“The protection envisaged in Section 17-A of the PC Act is not a blanket protection and when the act of any public official is ex-facie criminal or constitutes an offence, prior approval of the competent authority would not be required,” the Court said.

In May last year, the judge had refused to stay the trial, finding no compelling reasons to stay the proceedings of the trial court in the case.

It was Yadav's case that the investigations in the case have been initiated without obtaining a sanction mandated by Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. As per the plea, the said illegality was also ignored by the special judge.

Yadav contended that he is being made to suffer through an “illegal motivated investigation” in clear violation of his fundamental right to fair investigation.

“Without such approval, any enquiry/inquiry/investigation undertaken would devoid ob initio. Section 17A of the PC Act provides a filter from vexatious litigation. The present scenario of regime revenge and political vendetta is exactly what Section 17A seeks to restrict by protecting innocent persons. The initiation of investigation without such approval vitiates the entire proceedings since inception and the same is a jurisdictional error,” the plea stated.

It added that the very registration of the preliminary enquiry and registration of the FIR were barred by Section 17A of the PC Act as it related to public servants. The filing of charge sheets and passing of the cognizance orders and all consequent actions must fall, the plea states.

CBI had filed a chargesheet in the case on October 10, 2022, against 16 persons. Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, daughter Misa Bharti and other individuals are accused in the matter.

It is the case of the agency that various residents of Bihar were appointed as substitutes in “Group-D posts” from 2004 to 2009 in different zones of Railways located at Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hajipur.

It was alleged that in lieu of the same, the individuals themselves or their families transferred their land in the name of then Union Minister of Railways Lalu Prasad Yadav's family members and a company namely M/s AK Infosystems Private Limited, which was subsequently taken over by his family members.

CBI had claimed that the appointments made in the railways were not in consonance with the standards and guidelines established by the Indian Railways for hiring.

Title: SHRI LALU PRASAD YADAV v. CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Del) 297

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