New Delhi, April 14 -- The Supreme Court on Monday refused to quash a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR in the land-for-jobs case involving the RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members. A bench of justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh, however, granted exemption to the 77-year-old former Bihar chief minister from appearance before the trial court during the proceedings. "We do not say anything about the issue pertaining to the application of Section 17A (of the Prevention of Corruption Act) on whether it is prospective or retrospective. Taking into consideration the facts and the circumstances, liberty is granted to the petitioner to raise the legal issue at the time of the trial," the bench said. The top court allowed Yadav to raise the issue of the applicability of Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act in the case during trial of the case. Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act provides that no enquiry, inquiry or investigation shall be conducted by a police officer into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under the law without prior approval from the appropriate authority. During the hearing, additional solicitor general SV Raju, appearing for the CBI, argued that Section 17A of the Act would be invoked only if the accused was a decision-making authority. Raju argued that prior approval against Yadav under Section 17A was not required as he was neither the person who took the decision nor the recommending authority. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Yadav, opposed the submission and said that there cannot be any investigation until the authorities get the sanction. Sibal said the CBI has woken up after nine years to file another chargesheet on the same ground on which the case had been closed. "At least a final order may not be passed. Other matters are pending on the same issue and we don't get any relief. This is not fair," he said when the bench declined the relief. The Delhi High Court had on March 24 refused to quash a CBI FIR in the case involving Yadav and his family members, rejecting the RJD chief's contention that the agency's action was legally unsustainable in the absence of prior sanction under Section 17A. The land-for-jobs case is related to Group D appointments made in the West Central Zone of the Indian Railways in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, during Yadav's tenure as the railways minister between 2004 and 2009, allegedly in return for land parcels gifted or transferred by the recruits in the name of his family members or associates, officials said....