India, April 14 -- In a setback to Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to quash a CBI FIR in the land-for-jobs case involving the RJD chief 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 ...