Overview

• Lalu Prasad Yadav was charged with criminal misconduct as a public servant and conspiracy to cheat, while Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav were charged with cheating and criminal conspiracy under IPC Sections 420 and 120B.
• Special Judge Vishal Gogne said there was prima facie material that tenders were manipulated and land was acquired at undervalued rates, calling the process a textbook abuse of office and prima facie fraudulent.
• The CBI alleges two IRCTC BNR hotels in Ranchi and Puri were leased to Sujata Hotels through a rigged process in exchange for land routed via a benami firm, Delight Marketing Company (later Lara Projects), linked to the Yadav family.
• Other accused include Sujata Hotels directors Vijay and Vinay Kochhar and senior IRCTC officials V.K. Asthana and R.K. Goyal, with corporate entities Sujata Hotels and Lara Projects also named.
• All accused pleaded not guilty in the Rouse Avenue Court; the judge scheduled a day-to-day trial window from October 27 to November 7, a development drawing sharp reactions from BJP and JD(U) as the RJD terms the case politically motivated.