"It has become a routine now...": Tejaswi Yadav on fresh ED summons in land-for-job scam
Dec 21, 2023
Patna (Bihar) [India], December 21 : A day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Supremo Lalu Yadav and Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav in connection with the land-for-job scam, Tejaswi Yadav hit out at the centre on Thursday, stating that it has become "routine" now.
"I have been going since always; it's a routine. I went earlier as well. From 2017 to 2023, I have been going regularly whenever ED, Income Tax or CBI called me. What would these agencies do? They are also pressurised," Yadav told reporters.
Opposition leaders have accused Centre of using central investigating agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to suppress dissent. The Opposition parties claimed that 95 per cent of the political leaders investigated by the ED and CBI were opposition leaders.
"It has become a routine now...I have said that earlier as well...once the elections conclude in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, these agencies will work in Bihar, Jharkhand and Delhi," he added.
The ED summoned on Wednesday Lalu Yadav and Tejaswi Yadav in connection with the alleged land-for-job scam case.
While Lalu has been summoned for the first time by the federal agency, Tejaswi earlier appeared before the ED in April this year.
Searches were earlier conducted at multiple places, including in Delhi, Bihar, etc.
Recently, the CBI filed a charge sheet in the Land for Jobs alleged scam case against former Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, including Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and others.
CBI had registered a case on May 18, 2022, against the then Union Minister of Railways and others, including his wife, two daughters and unknown public servants and private persons.
It is alleged that the then Union Minister of Railways during the period 2004-2009 obtained pecuniary advantages in the form of the transfer of landed property in the name of his family members, etc. in lieu of the appointment of Substitutes in Group "D" posts in different Zones of Railways.
It was further alleged that in lieu thereof, the substitutes, who were residents of Patna themselves or through their family members, sold and gifted their land situated at Patna in favour of the family members of said Minister and a private company controlled by his family members, which was also involved in the transfer of such immovable properties in the name of said family members.
It was also alleged that no advertisement or any public notice was issued for such appointments of substitutes in Zonal Railways, yet the appointees who were residents of Patna were appointed as substitutes in different Zonal Railways located in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hazipur.
