New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to all accused, except Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad, in a money laundering case related to the 2006 Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) hotels tender scam. Other accused who were granted bail include former chief minister Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav.
Lalu Prasad’s bail application is pending as he could not appear before the court. He is presently lodged in Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Central Jail for his involvement in multi-crore fodder scam and was named in this case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
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A production warrant for October 6 was issued against Lalu by the court today with regard to the IRCTC scam.
The law enforcement agency in its chargesheet had also named RJD supporters PC Gupta and his spouse Sarla Gupta, a company Lara Projects and ten others as accused in the IRCTC hotels maintenance case.
The case pertains to alleged irregularities in allotting a contract to a private company for the maintenance of IRCTC hotels located in Ranchi and Puri when Lalu was heading the Railway Ministry from 2004 to 2009.
According to the prosecution report, a conspiracy was hatched in pursuance of which two BNR hotels of Indian railways, were first transferred to the IRCTC and were later given on lease to Patna based Sujata hotel Pvt Ltd for maintenance and upkeep.