RJD president Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and his son Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday denied corruption and other allegations made by the CBI in a case related to alleged irregularities in the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
The trio made these arguments in front of special judge Vishal Gogan during the debate to fed the charges against him in the case. The allegations include criminal conspiracy, fraud and corruption, for which a maximum of seven years of jail can be sentenced to jail.
The three, through their lawyer, claimed before the court that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) lacks evidence to prosecute them in the case. The hearing of the case will start again on Wednesday and the judge directed the investigating officer (IO) to appear before the court.
The judge said, “Further arguments have been heard by the accused number 1 to 4 (Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Yadav and Lara Projects LLP). Prasad, who was the Railway Minister during the UPA-1 government, questioned the validity of the approval received by the CBI to prosecute him in the first case.
The agency told the court on February 28 that there was enough evidence to prosecute the accused in the case. The case is arranged by alleged irregularities in giving contracts for operating two IRCTC hotels to a private firm. According to the CBI charge sheet, a conspiracy was hatched between 2004 and 2014 under which BNR hotels of Indian Railways located in Puri and Ranchi were first transferred to IRCTC. Later, he was leased to Sujata Hotels Private Limited in Patna for operation and maintenance.
The agency alleged that the tender process was rigged and rigged and the conditions were reshuffled to help the private side – Sujata Hotels -. The charge sheet also features the then Group General Manager of IRCTC VK Asthana and RK Goyal, and Vijay Kochhar and Vinay Kochhar, director of Sujata Hotels and owners of Chanakya Hotel. Delight Marketing Company, now known as Lara Projects, and Sujata Hotels Private Limited has also been accused in the charge sheet.