Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav made repeated phone calls to senior railway officials, pressuring them to process and clear a list of candidates he had recommended for appointments, even threatening them with consequences if they failed to comply, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told a Delhi court on Tuesday.
Appearing before special judge Vishal Gogne during arguments on framing of charges in the land-for-jobs case, the agency claimed that Lalu’s intervention went beyond mere recommendation and amounted to sustained coercion of officials in violation of rules.
According to special public prosecutor (SPP) DP Singh, Yadav first handed over an unsigned list of 120 candidates through an aide during a General Managers’ (GMs) conference at the Railway Board in New Delhi in 2008. The list, Singh said, was accompanied by oral instructions that the names were to be considered for employment as substitute staff “as per the minister’s wishes”.
When no action was taken for two to three months, Yadav personally called the GM, who is now a prosecution witness, and expressed anger at the delay. Singh read out a statement from the charge sheet: “Lalu Yadav told him –‘Aap to list pe kundi mark ke baith gaye ho‘ (You have locked up the list and sat idle).”
Following that call, 25 to 30 names were forwarded to the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO), who granted them final approval. But when the rest of the list remained pending, Lalu reportedly called the GM again, this time issuing a veiled threat: “Aap GM me kaam karna chahte ho ki nahi?” (Do you want to remain a GM or not?).
Under this sustained pressure, another 30 names were quickly cleared, and officials were instructed to process the appointments without full verification, pushing the responsibility to divisional levels post-engagement, CBI alleged.
“The general manager had initially processed only two or three applications, but immense pressure from the minister’s office forced him to forward more. Verification processes were bypassed,” SPP Singh told the court.
The case arises out of alleged irregular appointments made between 2004 and 2009, during Lalu’s tenure as railway minister. The CBI’s charge sheet has claimed that jobs were exchanged for plots of land gifted or sold at throwaway prices by candidates or their family members to the Yadav family.
The agency registered the case on May 18, 2022, naming Lalu, wife Rabri Devi, sons Tejashwi and Tej Pratap Yadav, and daughter Hema Yadav, among others. Over 80 people, including former and serving government officials and private individuals, are accused of enabling or benefiting from the scheme.
In the last hearing, Singh argued that the recruited candidates were largely from Bihar, where Lalu’s family holds political clout, and that they transferred land holdings to the Yadavs in return for Group D railway jobs.
So far, CBI has filed three charge sheets. The first charge sheet filed on October 7, 2022, summoned 16 accused. The second, on March 27, 2024, named Tej Pratap Yadav and 17 more. The third charge sheet, submitted on June 7, 2024, brings the total to over 90 accused, including 30 government officials.
The trial court took cognisance of the third charge sheet in March 2025 and granted bail to all accused, including Lalu and his family, on a ₹50,000 bond. In its order, the court noted there was strong prima facie evidence that recruitment rules had been violated, and that land had indeed been transferred to the Prasad family in return for jobs. The CBI’s submissions on charges are being heard day-to-day, with proceedings scheduled to continue for the next two days.