New Delhi, 10 September (H.S.):

The Rouse Avenue Court has framed charges against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav in the money laundering case related to the railway tender scam. Special Judge Vishal Gogne passed the order framing charges. The court also ordered the acquittal of seven people, including Lalu Yadav’s son-in-law Rahul Yadav.

Besides the three, the court has framed charges against Lara Projects, Sarla Gupta, Prem Chand Gupta, Sujata Hotels, Vinay Kochar and Vijay Kochar. The court ordered the acquittal of Rahul Yadav, Gaurav Gupta, Nath Mal Kankarnia, Vijay Tripathi, D.N. Tulsiyan, Rajiv Rallan and Abhishek Finance. The court had reserved its order on February 13.

The court had granted regular bail to Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav on personal bonds of Rs 1 lakh each in the case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 28, 2019. The court had granted regular bail to Lalu Yadav in the case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on January 19, 2019. On October 13, 2025, the court had ordered the framing of charges against Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Yadav and other accused in the CBI-related case concerning the railway tender scam.

The court had taken cognisance of the charge sheet filed by the ED on September 17, 2018. Lalu Yadav is accused of transferring two railway hotels to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and issuing tenders for their maintenance while serving as Railway Minister. The allocation of two hotels in Ranchi and Puri was allegedly transferred to Sujata Hotels, a company owned by the Kochar brothers.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar