New Delhi: (28/01/2019) We are confident of getting justice. We trust the judiciary”, Tejashwi Yadav on Lalu Yadav being granted bail.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, son Tejashwi Yadav and others were granted bail in the IRCTC scam related money laundering case.
The IRCTC case involves three acres of land in Patna where a mall has been planned. Lalu Yadav has been charged with facilitating, as the country’s Railways Minister in 2006, a contract to a private company to run hotels, in exchange for the premium plot as bribe.
The land was first transferred to the wife of a lawmaker of Yadav’s party and finally to Yadav’s wife and son Tejashwi at a dirt-cheap rate, the CBI says.
The case relates to alleged money laundering in granting the operational contract of two IRCTC hotels to a private firm. The next date of hearing in the case is February 11.
Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj granted relief to the accused persons on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and one surety of like amount each. The court had on January 19 extended the interim bail granted to the three which ended today.
According to the charge sheet filed by CBI, between 2004 and 2014, BNR hotels in Puri and Ranchi were first transferred to IRCTC and later, for its operations, maintenance and upkeep, given on lease to Sujata Hotels Private Limited, which is based in Patna, Bihar. It is alleged that the tender process was rigged and the conditions were tweaked to help the private party – Sujata Hotels.
Based on the CBI case, ED also filed money laundering case against Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Yadav and others. Former Union minister Prem Chand Gupta, then managing director of IRCTC PK Goyal was also named as accused in the charge sheet.
