Railway hotel tender case: Lalu Yadav to appear before CBI today

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav will today appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Railway hotel tender case.

The CBI had summoned Lalu Yadav today and his son, Tejashwi Yadav on October 6 in regard to the railway hotel tender case, after their inability to appear before it on October 3.

The investigative agency had, in July, registered a corruption case against Lalu, his wife Rabri Devi, his son Tejashwi Yadav, Sarla Gupta, wife of Prem Chand Gupta, Vijay Kochar and Vinay Kochar, both directors of Messer's Sujata Hotel Private Limited, Messer's Delight Marketing Private Limited, P.K. Goel, the then Managing Directors, IRCTC and unknown others under Section 120 B read with Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)d Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 in connection with the case.

The FIR lodged by the CBI against RJD chief stated that there were irregularities in awarding the tender for development, maintenance and operation of BNR Hotels in Ranchi and Puri when Lalu was the Railway Minister from 2004 to 2009.

The investigating agency has alleged that the tender process was rigged, manipulated and the conditions were tweaked by the then Railway Minister to help a private hotel company.

On July 27, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had registered a separate case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following the CBI FIR and is probing allegations against Lalu and others for the alleged transaction of money through shell companies.

-ANI