The Delhi High Court on Tuesday rejected the plea filed by former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to quash the land-for-railways jobs case against him and several of his family members.
Pointing out that the plea was devoid of any merits, Justice Ravinder Dudeja said, “The absence of prior approval under this provision does not vitiate the preliminary inquiry, registration of FIR, investigation or cognisance orders passed by the learned Special Judge. The petition being devoid of merits is accordingly dismissed."
Yadav’s advocated said that he was being made to suffer through an “illegal motivated investigation" that was 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.
Pointing out that the plea was devoid of any merits, Justice Ravinder Dudeja said, “The absence of prior approval under this provision does not vitiate the preliminary inquiry, registration of FIR, investigation or cognisance orders passed by the learned Special Judge. The petition being devoid of merits is accordingly dismissed."
The former Union minister had moved the High Court seeking to quash the First Information Report (FIR) registered against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2022. He had also sought quashing of the chargesheets filed by the CBI and the trial court orders taking cognisance of them.
In May last year, the HC had refused to stay the trial court proceedings in the case. That order was upheld by the Supreme Court.
