Land for job scam case: Delhi court grants interim bail to Rabri Devi, her daughters

Counsel for Rabri Devi, Misha Bharti, Hema Yadav, and Hridyanand Chaudhary moved an application for regular bail.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) sought a short adjournment for filing a reply to the bail applications.

Counsel for the ED submitted that while the accused were not arrested during the investigation, a reply is still required to be filed for bringing on record any relevant supervening circumstances.

Rabri Devi and others submitted that the requirement for filing a reply on behalf of the ED is perfunctory as the accused, for the reason of not having been arrested during the investigation, is entitled to bail in terms of the decision of the Supreme Court.

The court said, "The course of the present investigation by the ED reflects that the investigating agency did not find it necessary to effect the arrest of the applicants/accused persons either to seek custodial investigation or on account of any perceived threat/coercion upon witnesses. In this scenario, there is presently no basis for them to be committed to custody by the court."

"However, taking into account the specific plea of the ED for bringing any supervening plea on record through a reply to the bail applications, the application shall be decided after a reply is filed. The applicants/accused shall be admitted to interim bail till then," it said.

The ED after an investigation under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) filed a chargesheet in the Railways land for a job scam case against the accused and after taking cognizance on Jan 27, the court issued a summon against the accused persons for appearance before the court on Friday.

The court has also issued a production warrant against businessman Amit Katyal who was arrested by ED in November last year and is presently in judicial custody.

It is purported that between 2004 and 2009, individuals were appointed to Group "D" positions within various zones of the Indian Railways, allegedly in exchange for transferring their land as bribes to the family members of the then Railway Minister and a company named A K Infosystems Private Limited.