Delhi court grants bail to former Bihar CM Rabri Devi, 2 daughters

A Delhi court on Wednesday granted bail to former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi and her daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav in the Railways’ land-for-jobs case.

Misa Bharti, the eldest of RJD president Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi’s children, is a Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar.

Special Judge Vishal Gogne granted relief to the three after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) did not oppose the bail applications.

The central probe agency submitted that considering the serious nature of the case, stringent conditions should be imposed on the accused while granting them bail. “Reply has been filed on behalf of ED to the applications for regular bail moved on behalf of accused persons, namely Rabri Devi, Misha Bharti, Hema Yadav and Hridyanand Chaudhary. The counsel for the ED has adverted to the nature of allegations involving money laundering and submits that the same are grievous in nature and if the court were to consider admitting the accused persons to bail, stringent conditions may be imposed,” the judge noted.

The counsel for the accused submitted that since the investigating agency did not find it necessary to arrest them during the investigation, there was no plausible reason for the court to deny them the relief of regular bail now.

The judge granted the relief to the accused on a personal bond and surety bond of Rs 1 lakh each. He directed them to not leave the country without prior permission of the court and not contact, influence or coerce any person or witnesses connected with the case.