New Delhi, September 07 (H.S.): The Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi on Monday once again deferred its decision on framing charges against the accused in the money laundering case linked to the alleged railway tender scam. The court had earlier deferred the decision on August 29, August 14, July 31, July 16, June 9, May 22 and May 6. The court will now pronounce its decision on September 10.

The court had reserved its order on February 13. Earlier, on January 28, 2019, the court had granted regular bail to Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav in the case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The three were granted bail on furnishing personal bonds of Rs 1 lakh each.

On January 19, 2019, the court had granted regular bail to Lalu Prasad Yadav in the case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

On October 13, 2025, the court had ordered the framing of charges against Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Yadav and other accused in the CBI-related case concerning the alleged railway tender scam.

The court had taken cognisance of the ED's chargesheet on September 17, 2018. A total of 16 persons and entities have been named as accused in the money laundering case.

Those accused by the ED include Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Yadav, M/s Lara Project LLP, Sarla Gupta, Prem Chand Gupta, Gaurav Gupta, Nath Mal Kakarania, Rahul Yadav, Vijay Tripathi, Devki Nandan Tulsiyan, M/s Sujata Hotel, Vinay Kochhar, Vijay Kochhar, Rajiv Kumar Relan and M/s Abhishek Finance Private Limited.

According to the allegations against Lalu Prasad Yadav, while serving as Railway Minister, he transferred two railway hotels to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and subsequently issued tenders for their maintenance and operation.

The two hotels, located in Ranchi and Puri, were allegedly awarded to Sujata Hotel, a company associated with the Kochhar brothers.

The case relates to allegations of irregularities in the award of contracts concerning the two railway hotels and the alleged transactions connected with them.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar