Lalu Yadav and the Rashtriya Janata Dal were handed a rude shock Monday morning after charges were framed against the ex-Bihar Chief Minister in the alleged IRCTC scam case, this timing naming his son and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, and his wife and also ex-Chief Minister Rabri Devi.
With less than 30 days for the election - in which it is seen as the only rival to Janata Dal United boss Nitish Kumar's bid to extend a decade-old scrappy tenure - the RJD must now split its focus between managing the case (and the inevitable political jeers and swipes) and its poll campaign.
Lalu Yadav, a veteran politician, and his family pleaded not guilty when the court asked 'do you admit your guilt?'. They will now face trial over multiple charges, including that of cheating and criminal conspiracy over allegations of corruption in the award of tenders floated by the IRCTC.
The IRCTC is the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, a public sector undertaking set up in 1999 to provide ticketing, catering, and tourism services for the state-owned Railways.
This is, of course, the latest in a long line of corruption cases and allegations against Lalu Yadav, a line that includes the multi-crore fodder scam that involved fraudulent withdrawals of Rs 950 crore from various government bank accounts when he was the Chief Minister of undivided Bihar.
So what is the IRCTC case?
The allegation is that Lalu Yadav, while he was the Railways Minister from 2004 to 2009, when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was in power at the centre, directly influenced the tender process for maintenance contracts to IRCTC hotels in Ranchi (now in Jharkhand) and Puri.
Specifically, Lalu Yadav is accused of acquiring - via a shell company - three acres of prime land in Patna in exchange for the contracts. The maintenance contract was awarded to a third party, a private firm called Sujata Hotel owned by two individuals, brothers Vijay and Vinay Kochar.
The land was undervalued and registered in the name of Tejashwi Yadav and Rabri Devi.
Sujata Hotel and another corporate entity have also been named in the case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation began its inquiries in 2006, but it wasn't till July 2017 that a case was against filed Lalu Yadav. As part of its investigation the agency also raided a dozen locations - linked to the RJD patriarch and his family - in Patna, Delhi, Ranchi, and Gurugram.
Both sides argued in Delhi's Rouse Court; the CBI claimed it has sufficient evidence against all the accused, including Lalu Yadav, while the defence insisted the contracts were awarded fairly.
The court, delivering a long-awaited verdict this morning, said noted that 'probable fraud must be tried as cheating'. "The conspiracy is sublime, but is not hidden from the court's view," it said.
For the record, the sections under which the Yadav family members have been charged include Section 420 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code, which deal with the 'cheating and dishonestly inducing the delivery of property' and punishment for criminal conspiracy, which can vary.
Punishment under these charges can range from seven years to life in prison, as well as a fine.
What happens now?
Now that charges have been framed, the court will continue to examine the evidence against Lalu Yadav and the other accused, including testimony from witnesses from both sides.
The formal trial will begin once the court sets a date.
