Former Bihar CM and RJD chief Lalu Yadav (File Photo)
Trouble is set to mount for former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Yadav and his family as the Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday filed chargesheet in the IRCTC hotel contract case. The CBI's chargesheet names Lalu, wife Rabri Devi and their younger son Tejashwi Yadav among 14 others.
The central investigating agency had recently questioned former CM Rabri Devi in connection with the case.
What is the case
The case pertains to allegations that Lalu Prasad, as railway minister, handed over the maintenance of two hotels run by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a subsidiary of the Indian Railways, in Ranchi and Puri to Sujata Hotels, a company owned by Vinay and Vijay Kochhar, in return for a prime plot of three acres in Patna through a benami company.
The FIR alleged that the RJD leader abused his official position for extending undue favours to the Kochhars and acquired a piece of "high value premium land" through the benami firm, Delight Marketing Company.
Also read: IRCTC hotel allotment scam: ED attaches land in name of Lalu Yadav’s family in Patna
As a quid pro quo, he "dishonestly and fraudulently" awarded the contract to them for the two hotels, the FIR had alleged.
After the tender was awarded to Sujata Hotels, the ownership of Delight Marketing Company also changed hands from Sarla Gupta to Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav between 2010 and 2014. By this time, Lalu Prasad had resigned as railway minister.
(With inputs from PTI)
