IRCTC scam: Delhi Court refuses to cancel Tejashwi's bail

New Delhi, Oct 18: A Delhi court on Tuesday refused to cancel bail of Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, in connection with the alleged irregularities in granting operational contracts of two IRCTC hotels to a private firm.

The court asked Yadav to be responsible and to choose words appropriately while speaking in public. The CBI had demanded cancellation of bail on Tejashwi Yadav, for allegedly threatening some officers of the central probe agency.

Tejashwi Yadav's lawyers submitted that Yadav is an opposition party leader and raising questions on wrongdoings of the Govt is his duty. CBI and ED are being misused by the present Govt... All opposition party members feel the same.

The court found no specific ground for cancelling the bail but warmed Tejashwi to be more careful and choose appropriate words.

The court had in October 2018 granted bail to Yadav after he appeared before it in pursuance to summons issued against him in the matter related the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) scam.

On August 25, Tejashwi had made big statements on CBI officers while holding a press conference.

Tejashwi had said, "Don't CBI officers have mothers and children, don't they have families, will they always be CBI officers, won't they retire, only this party will remain in power, what message do you want to send? You should faithfully discharge the duty of a constitutional organisation."

Tejashwi's comments came after the homes of several Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders were raided by the CBI in connection with the "land-for-jobs" case.

Actually, the names of many family members including Lalu Prasad Yadav, Misa Bharti, Hema Yadav, Rabri Devi are included in the IRCTC scam case.

The IRCTC scam took place between 2004 to 2009 when Lalu Prasad was the Union railway minister. The CBI registered an FIR against Tejashwi Yadav and others in 2017, alleging two hotels were given on lease without following the norms.

According to the CBI, one of the hotels was allotted to Sarla Gupta, who is wife of Prem Gupta, a close friend of Lalu Prasad. He was also a Rajya Sabha MP at that time.