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NEW DELHI: The Rouse Avenue Court is set to pronounce the order on framing charges in the IRCTC hotel corruption case on October 13. The court has directed all accused, including RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, son Tejaswi Yadav, former minister Prem Chand Gupta and others, to appear in person on the scheduled date.The case involves allegations of corruption and conspiracy in the allotment of maintenance contracts for two IRCTC hotels during Lalu Prasad Yadav’s tenure as railway minister from 2004 to 2009. The hotels in question are BNR Ranchi and BNR Puri, whose contracts were allegedly transferred to Sujata Hotel, a private firm owned by Vijay and Vinay Kochar.The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged that, in return for the deal, Lalu Prasad Yadav received three acres of prime land through a benami company. The CBI filed an FIR against him on July 7, 2017 and conducted raids at 12 locations linked to him and his family in Patna, New Delhi, Ranchi and Gurgaon.The Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) for the CBI argued that there is sufficient evidence to frame charges of corruption and conspiracy against all 14 accused, including Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi, Tejaswi Yadav and others. The CBI claimed the allotment of maintenance contracts was irregular and benefited the private company in violation of rules. Meanwhile, Lalu Prasad Yadav’s counsel, senior advocate Maninder Singh, contended that there is no material to substantiate the allegations. He argued that the tenders were awarded fairly and that his client and other accused deserve discharge from the case.This year, the court had reserved the order on May 29 after hearing detailed arguments from both the CBI and the defence over multiple hearings. The matter will next be listed on October 13 for the pronouncement of the charge order.
