NEW DELHI, Oct 13: Terming former Railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav as the “fountain head of criminal conspiracy” in the alleged IRCTC land-for-hotels scam case, a Delhi court on Monday framed charges against the RJD chief, his wife and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi and their son Tejashwi Yadav, just weeks ahead of the crucial assembly polls in Bihar.
In a setback to the Yadav family, Special Judge Vishal Gogne paved the way for the day-to-day trial of the case against the three members of the Yadav family and 11 others from October 27 under various provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act for offences including the criminal conspiracy, cheating, abusing their official position and criminal misconduct by public servants.In his 244-page order, the judge flagged the “quid-pro quo” aspect in the case after the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) accused the Yadav family of manipulating Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation(IRCTC) tenders and illegal land transfers.
Lalu Prasad Yadav, 77, is accused of hatching a criminal conspiracy during his tenure as the Railways minister with the Kochhar brothers – Vijay Kochhar, Vinay Kochhar, (both Directors of M/s. Sujata Hotel Private Limited, owners of Hotel Chanakya, Patna), and others to extend undue favours to the firm in awarding contracts for sub-leasing the Railway’s BNR Hotels at Ranchi and Puri.
In return, the Kochhars allegedly sold a prime plot of land in Patna to a company controlled by Lalu Prasad’s close aide, Prem Chand Gupta, and his associates and this company was later taken over by Yadav’s family members, transferring the valuable property to them at a nominal price, according to the CBI chargesheet.Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi pleaded “not guilty” and claimed trial after the charges were read over to them by the judge.
The two-phase assembly elections in Bihar will be held on November 6 and 11. The RJD, headed by Lalu Yadav, is one of the major political parties in the state, and heads the opposition alliance Mahagathbandhan in which the Congress is also a constituent.
The BJP launched a blistering attack on the RJD, claiming scams, manipulation in awarding government contracts and taking people’s land after promising jobs were its model of governance.“Tejashwi Yadav is going to change Bihar with the charge of 420 (Section 420 of the erstwhile criminal code IPC referred to cheating) being framed against him by a competent court,” senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad told a press conference.
RJD’s Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha claimed that a “miscarriage of justice” driven by political rivalry has undermined the rule of law and eroded public trust in democratic institutions. (PTI)
