Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tejashwi to face CBI grilling this week
The ED has summoned Rabri Devi for questioning on October 11 in connection with the case.
New Delhi: Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members, who have been evading CBI summons for the past one month, are now expected to troop into CBI headquarters in Delhi Tuesday onwards. “If Mr Yadav and his family members fail to turn up this time, the CBI will explore stringent legal options,” sources in the CBI said.
On September 26, the CBI issued fresh summons to RJD chief and his son Tejashwi to appear for questioning on October 3 and 4 respectively in connection with its investigation into alleged irregularities committed in awarding tenders for development, maintenance and operation of railway hotels in Ranchi and Puri to a private firm in 2006, when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the railway minister.
“Lalu, who was earlier summoned by CBI for the second time to appear before the investigating team on September 26, sent his lawyer, who submitted a request seeking two weeks’ time for questioning. Lalu and Tejashwi had earlier been called on September 11 and 12, respectively. But they failed to appear before the agency,” sources said. The agency will explore other legal options if the two don’t appear before it, they added.
The case pertains to allegations that Lalu Yadav, as railway minister, handed over the maintenance of two hotels run by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a subsidiary of Indian Railways, in Ranchi and Puri to Sujata Hotel, a company owned by Vinay and Vijay Kochhar, in return for a prime plot of three acres in Patna.
The FIR alleged that Lalu Yadav abused his official position for extending undue favours to the Kochhars and acquired a “high-value premium land” through a benami firm, Delight Marketing Company. As quid pro quo, the then railway minister “dishonestly and fraudulently” managed award of leasing of the two hotels.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), meanwhile, is expected to initiate the process of attaching their properties this week as part of its investigation into the case. The ED has summoned Rabri Devi for questioning on October 11 in connection with the case.