The CBI has finally filed its charge sheet against Bihar’s former chief minister Rabri Devi, accusing her of a criminal conspiracy to benefit from the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). According to the charge, between 2004 and 2014, a conspiracy was hatched by 14 accused including former Bihar chief minister and Lalu Prasad's wife and their son Tejashwi.
The CBI says that Lalu Prasad, as railway minister, handed over the maintenance of two hotels run by the IRCTC, a subsidiary of the Indian Railways, in Ranchi and Puri to Sujata Hotels, a company owned by Vinay and Vijay Kochhar. This, the investigating agency says, Rabri and her alleged accomplices did to get, in return, a prime plot of three acres in Patna through a benami company.
The accused, the CBI says, renamed the venture subsequently as LARA Projects and then transformed it into a limited liability partnership firm. The property's circle rate was Rs 32 lakh, while its market value was Rs 94 lakh.
The CBI has alleged, after a tender was awarded to Sujata Hotels, the ownership of Delight marketing also changed hands from Sarla Gupta to Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav between 2010 and 2014. By this time, Lalu Prasad Yadav had demitted the office of railway minister.
