New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday reserved its order on whether to frame charges against RJD president Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi, their son Tejashwi Yadav, and others in a case linked to alleged irregularities in the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
Special judge Vishal Gogne reserved the order for July 23 after the arguments were concluded on the aspect of charge, while directing the accused persons to file a short synopsis of their arguments within one week.
“Limited submissions have been addressed by the counsel for the CBI in terms of the previous order. The arguments thus stand concluded on the aspect of charge. The accused persons who have not furnished written submissions are at liberty to file a short synopsis of their arguments comprising no more than six to eight pages within one week,” Judge Gogne said.
It may be recalled that on February 28, the CBI asserted there was strong evidence to prosecute the accused. Earlier, on January 28, 2019, the court granted regular bail to Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi, and Tejashwi Yadav in a case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Bail was granted on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each. On January 19, 2019, Lalu Yadav was also granted bail in the CBI case.
The court had taken cognisance of the ED’s charge sheet on September 17, 2018, naming 16 accused, including senior RJD leaders and several individuals and entities. The accused include Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Yadav, M/s Lara Projects LLP, Sarla Gupta, Premchand Gupta, Gaurav Gupta, Nath Mal Kakrania, Rahul Yadav, Vijay Tripathi, Devki Nandan Tulsyan, M/s Sujata Hotel, Vinay Kochhar, Vijay Kochhar, Rajiv Kumar Relan, and M/s Abhishek Finance Private Limited.
Lalu Yadav is accused of misusing his position as Railway Minister to transfer the management of two railway hotels in Ranchi and Puri to IRCTC and awarding maintenance tenders to Sujata Hotel, a company linked to the Kochhar brothers.
