IRCTC Scam: Delhi court directs RJD chief Lalu Prasad to appear through video conference

A Delhi court on November 19 directed RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav to appear before it on December 20 through video conference in connection with the IRCTC scam case. Special judge Arun Bharadwaj passed the directions after he was told that the accused could not appear before the court, as per earlier direction, owing to his ill health.

The court directed the CBI and ED to ensure Lalu's presence from video conference from the hospital if he is still lodged there, or from jail.

The ED, meanwhile, opposed the bail application of Prasad's wife Rabri Devi, son Tejaswi Yadav and others on the grounds that they were influential persons who could hamper the probe if granted the relief. The case relates to alleged irregularities in granting operational contract of two IRCTC hotels to a private firm. 

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Meanwhile, the health condition of the RJD president has deteriorated due to a festering boil on his right leg, the doctor attending him said on Sunday, November 18. Yadav is currently lodged in a paying ward of the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi.

''The sugar level and blood pressure of the RJD chief, who is a diabetic, have shot up in the past two to three days due to the boil'', Dr. Umesh Prasad of the RIMS, who attends Prasad, told PTI.

 The doctor said Yadav's creatinine level has also increased to 1.85 from 1.5 and so has the white blood cell count to 12,000, the normal range of which is between 4,000 and 8,000.

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"It will take some time for the infectious boil to heal," the doctor, who is monitoring the RJD chief's health condition round-the-clock, said.

Due to the boil, the RJD chief is experiencing difficulty in standing up and going to the washroom, sources close Yadav said.