Prez grants prosecution nod against Lalu Prasad

President Droupadi Murmu has granted sanction to prosecute RJD chief and former Union Minister Lalu Prasad in the money laundering case linked to the alleged railways land-for-jobs scam, official sources said on Thursday.

Murmu has accorded the permission as mandated under Section 197(1) of the CrPC (Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023), they said.

The case has been probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and the federal probe agency chargesheeted the 76-year-old former Bihar CM, his son and former Deputy CM of the state Tejashwi Yadav and other family members in August last year. In January 2024, the ED had filed its first chargesheet against an alleged associate of the Prasad family, Amit Katyal, and other family members of Prasad, including his wife and former Bihar CM Rabri Devi, MP daughter Misa Bharti, another daughter Hema Yadav and two associated firms.