A court in Delhi on Saturday granted bail to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad in the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation scam, PTI reported. Yadav was granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and a surety of like amount.
Yadav, who is serving sentences in fodder scam cases, is currently hospitalised at Rajendra Institute of Medical Science in Ranchi. His wife Rabri Devi and son Tejashwi Yadav were earlier granted bail in the case.
Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj has directed the accused not to travel abroad without prior permission and not to tamper with the evidence.
The case relates to alleged irregularities in a tender awarded to a private company called Sujata Hotels to develop and operate two railway hotels in Ranchi and Puri in 2005, when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the Union railways minister. In return, he allegedly received a three-acre plot worth Rs 45 crore through a benami company owned by the wife of a Rashtriya Janata Dal parliamentarian.
In another case registered by the Enforcement Directorate related to alleged money laundering, the court extended interim bail granted to Lalu Prasad, his wife and son till January 28. The court on January 28 will pronounce an order on the regular bail application made by the accused in the ED case, PTI reported.
The CBI had launched an investigation in the hotel tender case in July 2017. In April 2018, the CBI had filed a chargesheet against Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife and son, and 11 others in the case.
The Enforcement Directorate registered a criminal case against the accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act based on a First Information Report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in April.
On August 24, 2018, the Enforcement Directorate filed its first chargesheet against Yadav, Rabri Devi and others. The chargesheet also named Tejashwi Yadav, former Union minister Prem Chand Gupta and his wife Sarla Gupta, a company Lara Projects (earlier known as Delight Marketing Private Limited), and 10 others.
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