Railways hotel contract case: Lalu, Rabri named in CBI chargesheet

The CBI chargesheeted former railway minister and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejaswi Yadav and eleven others for alleged irregularities in hotel maintenance contracts given by the railway’s hospitality arm.

The agency had filed an FIR against Lalu and others last July for allegedly making illegal gains by tweaking the terms of tender for the maintenance of IRCTC hotels. Those chargesheeted on Monday include Vijay and Vinay Kochhar, who are directors of Sujata Hotels that had got the maintenance contracts, and some IRCTC officials.

The case dates back to 2004, when Lalu was the railway minister in the UPA government.


According to the CBI, Lalu colluded with the owners of Chanakya and Sujata Hotels in Patna through IRCTC officials and a front company that belonged to the then minister. This was done to sub-lease the rights of two railway hotels at Puri and Ranchi to Sujata Hotels, the CBI claimed. In lieu of that, three acres of prime land were transferred to the company, Delight Marketing, through ten sale deeds at a consideration which was much less than the then prevailing circle rates, it said. The company was later taken over by Lalu’s family members, it alleged.

While the father-son duo of Lalu and Tejaswi got Delight Marketing for about Rs 64 lakh, the company owned land worth around Rs 32.5 crore as per the circle rate and around Rs 94 crore at market rate), the CBI had said in its FIR. Sarla Gupta, who is the wife of Lalu’s associate and RJD Rajya Sabha MP PC Gupta, was a director of Delight Marketing, which was transferred to Lalu and Tejashwi Yadav between 2010 and 2014. Sarla Gupta is also booked by the CBI.