Court frames charges against Lalu, Rabri and Tejashwi in IRCTC land-for-hotels scam case; trial to begin from Oct 27

New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) 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 Rashtriya Janata Dal (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.

Finding prima facie evidence against the accused, the judge, in his order, said, “Thus seen, Lalu Prasad Yadav is under grave suspicion of having overseen and influenced the fidelity of the tender process in order to favour M/s Sujata Hotel Pvt. Ltd. This influence garnered pecuniary gain in the hands of his family while possibly causing wrongful loss to the state/public exchequer both on account of the under valuation of the land when sold by the Kochhars to M/s DMCPL in 2005 and also when the tender was awarded to a bidder on account of manipulation of the bids as well as the evaluation of the same” The special CBI court said these acts of the former minister constituted the ingredients of section 420 (cheating) IPC with which he is liable to be charged as an independent article of charge.

“The influencing of the tender process for favouring a private party and to then receive consideration in the form of land parcels (in favour of his family members) is constitutive prima facie of the abuse of position as a public servant for acquiring pecuniary advantage and such influence was apparently exercised without any public interest,” it said.

“Since it has emerged as a dominant probability that Lalu Prasad Yadav was the fountain head of a criminal conspiracy, also involving the Kochhar brothers, P C Gupta and Sarla Gupta, the railway officials in question and his own family members to enable the award of the tender in favour of the Kochhar brothers in return for land at gross under valuation, he is further liable to be charged with conspiracy to commit the offences punishable under section 420 IPC and section 13(2) read with section 13(1) (d)(ii) and (iii) of the PC Act." The court framed criminal conspiracy charges punishable under section 120B IPC against all the accused.

“The matter shall next proceed to the stage of evidence for the prosecution, commencing with the examination of the formal witnesses on a day-to-day basis from October 27, to November 07. The CBI shall intimate the accused in advance regarding the witnesses to be summoned during the above bulk dates of hearing." The court also trashed the submissions of political witch hunting and said the allegation of “political motivation to this prosecution is a double edged sword.” “If one proposition is that Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family have been targeted by the new Government at the centre post the year 2014, the equally arguable alternate proposition is that he was given a clean chit by the previous dispensation also on account of political motivation. Thus, the court finds no reason to accept the contention, at this stage of proceedings...are politically motivated,” it said.

On the “quid-pro quo” aspect, the court referred to the sale of shares of M/s DMCPL to Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav by Sarla Gupta, the wife of Prem Chand Gupta, at under valued rates and in suspicious circumstances wherein many of the shareholders cited as witnesses purportedly claimed ignorance of these transactions.

“Consequently, much like the other accused persons discussed thus far, Prem Chand Gupta is also under grave suspicion of having participated in the conspiracy to commit cheating as well as to give effect to the quid pro quo arrangement between… for manipulation of the tender for the BNR hotels, Ranchi and Puri, through abuse of office by Lalu Prasad and the five accused railway officials, in lieu of transfer of these land parcels to the family members of Lalu Prasad." Besides the Yadavs, the court framed charges for various offences against M/s LARA Projects LLP, Vijay Kochhar, Vinay Kochhar, Sarla Gupta, Pradeep Kumar Goel, Prem Chand Gupta, Rakesh Saksena, Bhupendra Kumar Agarwal Rakesh Kumar Gogia, Vinod Kumar Asthana and M/s Sujata Hotel Pvt. Ltd. PTI MNR SJK PK PKD GSN SJK GSN GSN