The RJD chief and former Union Railway Minister Lalu Yadav has reportedly been exonerated by the CBI in a bribery case allegedly favouring the DLF Group of real estate firm.
Yadav, who has been out on bail since April, had spent three years in jail after being convicted in the fodder scam.
According to the NDTV report, the CBI closed the preliminary enquiry initiated by its Economic Offence Branch of CBI in January 2018, after finding no proof substantiating the allegations in the two years' probe.
Reports said that the investigation agency had tried to convert the case into a regular case, claiming to have found irregularities, including antedated stamp papers, sham transactions, and property transfer in favour of the Yadavs at a throwaway price in the preliminary enquiry.
Citing sources, the report said that the senior supervising officers including former director RK Shukla ordered the closure of the case as there was proper evidence to file an FIR against Lalu Prasad Yadav.
♦It was alleged that the DLF Group, eyeing rail land lease project in Mumbai's Bandra and upgrade of New Delhi Railway Station project, had bribed the former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav with a property in an upscale South Delhi locality.
♦It was alleged that AB Exports, an alleged shell company, had bought a property in the capital's New Friends Colony for nearly Rs 5 crores in December 2007 while its actual circle rate was Rs 30 crore at that time.
♦This transaction was allegedly funded by DLF Home Developers and routed through Lexis Infotech and a few other shell firms.
In 2011, Lalu Yadav's son Tejashwi Yadav, and his daughters - Chanda Yadav and Ragini Lalu - allegedly bought over AB Exports for a mere Rs 4 lakh by transfer of shares, thereby going on to own the plush South Delhi property.
♦In January 2018, the Economic Offence Branch of CB initiated a preliminary probe for corruption against Lalu Prasad Yadav and real estate developer DLF Group.
♦The agency had also named Praveen Jain and Amit Katyal as intermediaries who executed the transactions between the DLF Group and the veteran politician.
♦The income tax department, too, had opened a separate investigation in the case.
♦Now CBI has given clean chit to RJD supremo after preliminary enquiry citing lack of evidence against him.
Last month, Lalu Yadav has been out on bail since April after spending more than three years in jail. He was granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court in a case linked to the Bihar fodder scam.
The former Bihar Chief Minister was serving his sentence in what was known as the "Dumka Treasury Case", where he was convicted of withdrawing Rs 3.13 crore from the treasury in the city in Jharkhand, formerly in Bihar.