Delhi High Court seeks CBI reply on Rabri plea

Patna: The Delhi high court on Friday sought the response of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on a petition filed by Rabri Devi, former Bihar chief minister and spouse of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, challenging the framing of charges in the alleged IRCTC hotel case.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of the Delhi high court issued notice on her petition and listed it for hearing on Jan 19, when similar petitions filed by her husband, former railway minister Lalu Prasad, and their son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav are also scheduled to be taken up.


The case dates back to Oct 13 last year, when the trial court framed charges against Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and 11 others for the alleged offences of cheating, criminal conspiracy and corruption under the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The charges relate to the leasing of two railway hotels to a Patna-based private company.

In her petition, Rabri Devi has argued that the trial court wrongly presumed her role in the alleged conspiracy despite the absence of any material suggesting her involvement. “Neither accused no-1 Lalu Prasad nor his family members, including the petitioner (Rabri), was ever involved in the tender process for the erstwhile Bengal Nagpur Railways' (BNR) hotels located in Ranchi and Puri. It is admitted fact by the prosecution that Lalu (her husband) never issued any instruction either oral or document during the tender process for the BNR hotels at Ranchi and Puri,” Rabri has stated in her plea.

The CBI, in its charge-sheet, has alleged that between 2004 and 2014, a criminal conspiracy was hatched in which the BNR hotels of the Indian Railways, located in Ranchi and Puri, were first transferred to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and subsequently leased out to a Patna-based company, Sujata Hotels Pvt Ltd, for operations, maintenance and upkeep.

According to the FIR filed by the CBI, Lalu Prasad, while serving as railway minister, entered into a criminal conspiracy with the owner of Sujata Hotels, IRCTC officials and Sarla Gupta, wife of Rajya Sabha member Prem Chand Gupta, to secure undue pecuniary advantage for himself and others.

The CBI has further alleged that the BNR hotels were handed over to Sujata Hotels through a “rigged and manipulated” tender process, which was managed by P K Goyal, the then managing director of IRCTC.