New Delhi
The Delhi High Court has called for the Enforcement Directorate’s response to a petition by Amit Katyal, a close aide of RJD leader Lalu Prasad, seeking interim bail on medical grounds in connection with a money laundering case related to an alleged land-for-jobs scam in the Indian Railways. Justice Vikas Mahajan, presiding over a vacation bench, issued notice to the ED, instructing it to submit a status report. The court also directed the concerned jail superintendent to provide a report along with Katyal’s diet chart, scheduling the next hearing for June 7.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Katyal, argued that the accused underwent bariatric surgery and lost 10 kg of weight, necessitating further treatment unavailable in Tihar jail where he is detained. Responding to the judge’s inquiry regarding the timing of the petition during vacations despite the earlier surgery, Sibal explained that Katyal approached the high court after his recent bail plea dismissal by the trial court.
Katyal was arrested by the ED on November 11, 2023, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency alleges that he obtained land from numerous railway job applicants on behalf of Lalu Prasad during his tenure as railway minister in the UPA 1 government. The ED asserts that Katyal, as the director of AK Infosystems Private Limited, facilitated the acquisition of land at reduced rates from job aspirants, later transferring it to Prasad’s family members, who are also implicated in the case.
