IRCTC case: Court defers order on charges against Lalu Prasad till Aug 5

A Delhi court on Wednesday deferred till August 5 its order on framing of 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 IRCTC.

On May 29, the court reserved its order after the arguments were concluded on the aspect of charge.

Prasad, Devi and Yadav have refuted corruption and other charges levelled against them by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case. The charges also include criminal conspiracy and cheating, and carry a maximum jail term of seven years.

The three claimed before the court through their lawyer that the CBI lacked evidence to prosecute them.

Prasad, who was the railway minister during the UPA-I government, earlier questioned the validity of sanctions obtained by the CBI to prosecute him.

The agency told the court on February 28 that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute the accused persons.

The case is linked to alleged irregularities in the grant of operational contracts of two Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) hotels to a private firm.

According to the CBI charge sheet, a conspiracy was hatched between 2004 and 2014 in pursuance of which BNR hotels of the Indian Railways located in Puri and Ranchi were first transferred to the IRCTC. They were later leased to the Patna-based Sujata Hotels Private Limited for operations and maintenance.

The tender process, the CBI alleged, was rigged and manipulated and the conditions were tweaked to help the private party -- Sujata Hotels.

The charge sheet also names former group general managers of IRCTC V K Asthana and R K Goyal, and Vijay Kochhar and Vinay Kochhar, both directors of Sujata Hotels and owners of Chanakya Hotel.

Delight Marketing Company, now known as Lara Projects, and Sujata Hotels have also been named as accused in the charge sheet.