Lalu, who is on bail following his conviction in the fodder scam case, is undergoing treatment at a Mumbai hospital.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a chargesheet against Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, son Tejashwi Yadav, and 13 others in connection with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) scam on Friday. The case is based on alleged corruption linked to tenders for the maintenance of Bengal Nagpur Railway (BNR) hotels.
The agency has also named Lalu's close aide and former Union minister Prem Chand Gupta and his wife Sarla Gupta and a private firm LARA Projects Private Ltd in the chargesheet. Others named are Vijay Kochhar, Vinay Kochhar, both directors of Sujata Hotels and the owner of Panchari Hotel.
They were all booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) before a special court in the national capital.
Lalu, who is on bail following his conviction in the fodder scam case, is undergoing treatment at a Mumbai hospital.
The chargesheet highlights that between 2004 and 2014, a conspiracy was hatched in pursuance of which BNR hotels of Indian Railways located in Puri and Ranchi were first transferred to the IRCTC. Later, for its operations, maintenance and upkeep, it was given on lease to a private firm Sujata Hotel Pvt Ltd based in Patna.
During this, tender processes were rigged and manipulated and the conditions were tweaked to help the private party (Sujata Hotel). In return, three acres of land in west Patna was given to Delight Marketing, which has ties with Lalu's family, at a very low cost. Subsequently, between 2010 and 2014, this land was further transferred to another company — Lara Projects — owned by Lalu's family members. The transfer of land also took place at a very low price. The land was valued at Rs 32 crore as per the circle rate but was transferred for merely Rs 65 lakh to Lara Projects
The ED also found that Lalu, the then railway minister, had entered into a conspiracy with owners of Sujata hotels, Sarla Gupta, wife of his close associate Prem Chand Gupta (an RJD MP in Rajya Sabha) and IRCTC officials for "undue pecuniary advantage to himself and others".
Further Vinay Kochhar on February 25, 2005, sold commercial property in the form of three acres of land in Patna through 10 sale-deeds for Rs 1.47 crore to Delight marketing in which Sarla Gupta was a director as a front benami holder on behalf of Lalu.
The chargesheet highlights how Lalu got 358 decimal of land from PC Gupta in February 2005, at a rate lesser than the then market value.
"The said company possessing valuable chunk of land gradually got transferred to Rabri Devi and her son Tejashwi by way of share purchase at nominal prices. "The funds used to acquire the land had a dubious origin and had been laundered through 151 group of companies belonging to P C Gupta by using a non-banking financial company named Ms Abhishek Finance Company Limited," the agency charged.
The agency has also attached assets worth over Rs 44 crore in the case till now.
On April 16, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed the chargesheet in the case and had said that there was enough evidence against the accused.
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