New Delhi, Oct 13 (UNI) In a major political and legal development, a special CBI court today framed charges against RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, son Tejashwi Yadav and 11 others in the IRCTC scam, paving way for the start of the trial.
The court’s decision to formally frame charges is a critical step, confirming that there is sufficient evidence to proceed with a trial against all 14 accused. The case pertains to allegations of corruption in the awarding of railway tenders during Lalu Prasad Yadav’s tenure as the Railway Minister.
The CBI alleges that Lalu Prasad Yadav entered into a criminal conspiracy with the owners of Sujata Hotels, Vijay and Vinay Kochhar, to grant them favourable contracts for two IRCTC hotels in Ranchi and Puri. In return, a prime piece of land in Patna was sold by the Kochhar brothers to a company managed by a close aide of Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rajya Sabha MP Prem Chand Gupta.
This company and the valuable land were later acquired at a significantly low price by Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family members through a firm called Delight Marketing Company Private Limited.
While the accused, including Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family, have previously argued that the CBI lacks evidence, the agency has maintained it has a strong case. The court has now scheduled the case for the recording of prosecution evidence, which will be conducted between October 27 to November 7, on a day-to-day basis.
