Delhi court postpones formal charges in alleged IRCTC hotel case

A Delhi court on Saturday deferred the formal framing of money-laundering charges against former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, son Tejashwi Yadav and six others in the Enforcement Directorate’s alleged IRCTC hotel case. The proceedings have been posted for October 30. Special Judge Prashant Kumar asked the Enforcement Directorate to seek instructions in accordance with an order passed by the predecessor court.

The earlier court had directed that charges be formally framed against nine of the accused. The Enforcement Directorate had arrayed 16 people as accused. On September 10, the predecessor court discharged seven of them and ordered the framing of charges against the remaining nine.

The case was then listed for formal framing on October 3. The earlier court said there was a strong suspicion against the accused. It also held that the nature, timing and course of the investigation did not indicate that the complaint had been motivated by political vendetta, as argued by counsel for Mr.

Lalu Prasad. The Enforcement Directorate’s case concerns alleged irregularities in the award of tenders to operate IRCTC hotels in Ranchi and Puri between 2005 and 2014, when Mr. Lalu Prasad was Railway Minister.

According to the agency, the tender process was manipulated to favour Sujata Hotels. It alleges that the company’s directors, Vinay Kochhar and Vijay Kochhar, transferred prime land in Patna to Delight Marketing Company Pvt. Ltd.

at undervalued rates as part of a quid pro quo. The agency further claims that the company was controlled by Prem Chand Gupta and his wife, Sarla Gupta, who were close associates of Mr. Lalu Prasad, and that its shares were later transferred to Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav at a low price.

The company was subsequently renamed Lara Projects. The RJD leader and 11 others also face corruption charges in a related CBI case.