Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Yadav in legal trouble: What’s the IRCTC scam case?

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family’s legal woes have risen just weeks ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections. A court in Delhi on Monday (October 13) framed various criminal charges against former Bihar Chief Minister Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, also ex-CM of the state, and their son Tejashwi Yadav in the alleged IRCTC scam case.

This has set the stage for a trial, as all the accused have pleaded not guilty. The development comes with less than a month left for the Bihar polls, with the RJD seen as the main challenger to the rule of Janata Dal United’s, or JD(U), Nitish Kumar.

Let’s take a closer look.

What’s the IRCTC ‘scam’?

The case pertains to Lalu Yadav ’s tenure as Railway Minister between 2004 to 2009.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged corruption in the allotment of maintenance work contracts for two hotels of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) in Ranchi and Puri. The central probe agency’s chargesheet claims these two BNR hotels of the Indian Railways were first transferred to IRCTC, a public sector undertaking.

Later, the operations, maintenance and upkeep of the hotels were given on lease to a company named Sujata Hotels, located in Bihar’s Patna, reported PTI.

The agency alleged that the tender process was rigged and manipulated, with the contracts favourably awarded to the private firm, Sujata Hotel, owned by Vijay Kochhar and Vinay Kochhar.

In return, Lalu Yadav is accused of receiving three acres of prime land in Patna via a shell company. The land worth crores was transferred to a company allegedly linked to Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav at a fraction of its market value, as per a Bar and Bench report.

The CBI’s chargesheet also names the group general managers of IRCTC, VK Asthana and RK Goyal, and Vijay and Vinay Kochhar, directors of Sujata Hotels and owners of Chanakya Hotel.

Delight Marketing Company, now known as Lara Projects, has also been named in the chargesheet.

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What the Delhi court said

A Delhi court on Monday framed criminal charges against the 77-year-old RJD patriarch, Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav, who is the Leader of Opposition in Bihar, in the alleged IRCTC scam case.

Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne of the Rouse Avenue Courts passed the order.

While the charges of corruption, criminal conspiracy and cheating have been framed against Lalu Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav and Rabri Devi have been charged with multiple offences, including conspiracy and cheating.

Lalu Yadav is accused of “abusing his position as a public servant” and engaging in a conspiracy that manipulated the tender process, India Today reported, citing the court order.

He is also alleged to have influenced the eligibility conditions of the tender and set up the undervalued purchase of land parcels from the Kochhar family.

“He engaged in conspiracy and abused his position as a public servant. Lalu Yadav influenced the tender; eligibility conditions of the tender were manipulated. He conspired for the undervalued purchase of land parcels from the Kocchars”, the court said in a detailed order.

Lalu Yadav also allegedly conspired with other accused to transfer effective control of these land parcels to his wife and son.

“The CBI presented a chain of evidence to charge Lalu Yadav with conspiracy and abuse of position as Railway Minister, alleging that undervalued land parcels were subsequently transferred to Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav,” Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne said in the court’s order.

It noted that the alleged undervaluation of these land parcels and the ultimate transfer of shares to Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav raised serious concerns and caused financial loss to the state exchequer.

“Valuation of shares raises great concern and causes loss to the state exchequer. The court has found grave suspicion that multiple persons engaged in a conspiracy for the transfer of control of land to the Lalu Yadav family. There is grave suspicion as to how shares were transferred to Rabri Devi in undervalued form,” the court said.

The Yadav family has questioned the probe, claiming there was no evidence against them. They also maintain that the case is politically motivated.

Judge Gogne said in his order that he had reached a prima facie conclusion that Lalu Yadav was completely aware of the processes and intervened to influence the transfer of the hotels.

“There were material modifications in the tender process… It has emerged as a distinct possibility that at the point of sale, the land parcels were undervalued and then came to be vested in the hands of Lalu Yadav,” the court said.

“Various persons engaged in a conspiracy which may have involved multiple smaller conspiracies,” the court added.

With inputs from agencies