Delhi HC issues notice on Rabri’s plea against framing of charges in IRCTC case

THe new delhi heights margaret court on fri issued a mark on former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi’s petition against a trial court’s October 13 order framing charges against her in connection with the alleged irregularities in the leasing of two Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) hotels when her husband, Lalu Prasad Yadav, was the railway minister.A bench of Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file its response to the petition and fixed January 19 as the next date of hearing. It would hear the plea of former Bihar deputy chief minister and Devi son, Tejaswi Yadav, against the October 13 order on the same day.The two IRCTC hotels in Ranchi and Puri were leased to Vijay and Vinay Kochhar’s Sujata Hotels Pvt Ltd. The CBI has alleged that the tender process was rigged to favour the firm in exchange for land and company shares transferred to the Yadav family at throwaway prices.The trial court framed charges against Devi, noting that she participated in the alleged criminal conspiracy with other accused when Delight Marketing Company Private Limited (DMPCL) purchased land parcels from the Kochhar brothers at an alleged undervalued consideration.The CBI’s charge sheet in the case alleged that the hotels were first transferred from the railways to IRCTC and subsequently leased to Sujata Hotels for operation and maintenance between 2004 and 2014. The agency alleged that the tender process was manipulated to favour Sujata Hotels, resulting in a loss to the public exchequer.The CBI claimed a three-acre land parcel in Patna was allegedly transferred to DMPCL, later renamed Lara Projects LLP, which the Yadav family associates controlled. The land was purportedly sold at a price below market value and transferred in the names of Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav. The CBI has described the transactions as a classic quid pro quo, wherein public contracts were allegedly exchanged for valuable private property.The Enforcement Directorate has filed a money laundering case against Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi, their daughter, and Tejashwi Yadav based on the CBI’s findings.Senior advocate Maninder Singh, who appeared for Devi before the high court, argued his client was neither a director nor a shareholder with DMPCL. He said she had no role even in indirectly facilitating any sale or transactions linked to the land parcel.“In the present case, neither the charge sheet nor its relied upon documents, nor any statements of the witnesses, even whisper any kind of inducement, fraud, or dishonesty,” said Devi’s petition.On Wednesday, the high court restrained the cross-examination in the case before the trial court.