New Delhi:In the IRCTC hotel allotment case, the troubles of Rashtriya Janata Dal President and former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family have once again increased. Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on Thursday ordered framing of charges under the Money Laundering Act against a total of nine accused, including Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejashwi Yadav. The court held that prima facie there is concrete suspicion of money laundering against the accused, on the basis of which it is logical to prosecute.
The court rejected the argument
Hearing the case, Special Judge Vishal Gogane rejected the defense's claims that the investigation was motivated by political vendetta.
The court made it clear in its observation that the manner in which the investigation of this case has progressed and the timely facts that have emerged do not in any way support the allegation of political vendetta.
money laundering allegations
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, on which the judicial process is now progressing rapidly. With this decision, the way has been completely cleared for the trial against Lalu family, his close aide Premchand Gupta, Sarla Gupta and nine named people including the directors of Sujata Hotels. However, considering the lack of evidence in the same case, the court has acquitted Lalu Yadav's son-in-law Rahul Yadav and seven other people.
Allegation of giving hotel contracts in exchange of land
This entire matter is from the year 2004 to 2009, when Lalu Prasad Yadav was working as Railway Minister in the Central Government. CBI alleges that during that time, the contract for maintenance and operation of the famous BNR hotels of Railways in Ranchi and Puri was given to a company named Sujata Hotels, bypassing the rules. According to the allegations, in exchange for this favor to the company owned by Vinay Kochhar and Vijay Kochhar, a very valuable piece of land in Patna was transferred to a company linked to the Lalu family at a price much below the market rate. Linking the links of this suspicious dealings and money transactions, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, on which the judicial process is now progressing rapidly.