Delhi’s Patiala House Court today i.e. December 20, 2018, granted interim bail to former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in the IRCTC scam case.

Yadav, who is serving a jail term in Ranchi in connection with a Fodder Scam case, was directed by Special JudgeArun Bharadwaj last month to appear via video conferencing after he had told the court that he would not be able to be physically present for the hearing due to his ill-health.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) case, being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), pertains to alleged irregularities in granting contracts to a private company called Sujata Hotels for developing and operating two IRCTC hotels in Ranchi and Puri.

It has been alleged that Yadav being the Union Railways Minister at that time has received a three-acre plot worth Rs 45 crore through a benami company owned by the wife of a Rashtriya Janata Dal parliamentarian.

A criminal case under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, was subsequently registered against Yadav and others by ED.

The matter will now be taken up for hearing on January 19, 2019.

The court had earlier granted bail to Yadav’s wife Rabri Devi, son Tejashwi Yadav, and others accused in the IRCTC case.