Delhi court grants bail to Lalu Yadav in IRCTC scam

New Delhi: RJD chief Lalu Prasad was on Saturday granted bail by a Delhi court in the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) scam case filed by the CBI.

Prasad, 70, who is serving sentences in fodder scam cases, is currently admitted at Rajendra Institute of Medical Science in Ranchi for treatment. Special judge Arun Bhardwaj here granted bail to Prasad on a personal bond of '1 lakh and a surety of like amount.

Lalu was earlier granted interim bail in the matter. Prasad's wife Rabri Devi and son Tejaswi Yadav were also earlier granted bail in the case.

The court also put various conditions on the accused, including that they will not leave country without prior permission and not tamper with the evidence.

Meanwhile, the court extended the interim bail of Prasad, Devi, Tejaswi and others till January 28 in a separate case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged money laundering in the scam.

The cases relate to alleged irregularities in granting the operational contract of two IRCTC hotels to a private firm.

According to the chargesheet filed by the CBI, between 2004 and 2014, a conspiracy was hatched in pursuance of which BNR hotels of the Indian Railways, located in Puri and Ranchi, were first transferred to IRCTC and later, for its operations, maintenance and upkeep, given on lease to Sujata Hotels Private Limited, which is based in Patna, Bihar.

It is alleged that the tender process was rigged and manipulated and the conditions were tweaked to help the private party — Sujata Hotels.

Based on the CBI case, the ED also lodged a case of money laundering against Prasad, Devi, Yadav and others. The court will pronounce order on January 28 on the regular bail application of Prasad and others in the ED case.