NEw DELHI, Feb. 11 -- The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family must stand trial for "dubious" transactions relating to the IRCTC hotel case. The case, investigated by the CBI, centres on alleged irregularities in leasing two Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) hotels - the BNR Hotels in Ranchi and Puri - to a private company, Sujata Hotels Pvt Ltd, owned by Vijay and Vinay Kochhar, during Lalu Prasad's tenure as Union railway minister. The agency had alleged that the tender process was rigged to favour the Kochhars' firm in exchange for land and company shares transferred to Lalu Prasad's family at throwaway prices. The agency's counsel, Additional Solicitor General DP Singh, made this submission before a bench of Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma in the petitions filed by Lalu and his family, including his wife Rabri Devi, their son and Bihar Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, against the trial court's October 13 order framing charges against them in the case. The trial court had framed charges of corruption, conspiracy and cheating, describing Lalu as the "fountainhead of a criminal conspiracy" who manipulated a railway tender in exchange for land and other favours. "The entire acquisition of this raises grave suspicions, and as a prosecutor, I would use the term "dubious." This is how the land is acquired. Purchase of land was when Mr Yadav was the chief minister," the law officer submitted. Opposing the petition, the law officer further submitted that the land was transferred at a price lower than the rate at which it had originally been acquired. Lalu's petition argued that the trial court's July 2018 order taking cognisance of the CBI chargesheet was invalid as it was passed without the mandatory prior sanction required under Section 197(1) CrPC for prosecuting a public servant. The petition also contended that Lalu was not involved in either the alleged manipulation of the tender process or the sale of the land parcels. The Yadavs contended that the sale of land parcels and the award of the tender were separate and independent transactions carried out by the concerned persons following due process. They further argued that a prior CBI investigation found no incriminating material, concluding there were no irregularities in the tender process for the BNR hotels in Ranchi and Puri, and that the land parcels had been sold nearly two years before the tender award through genuine transactions with due consideration. To be sure, besides Yadav's, the appeals against the trial court's order have also been preferred by other accused, including Lara Projects LLP, Sujata Hotels Pvt Ltd. The matter will be heard tomorrow when the CBI is expected to continue its submissions. The CBI alleged that between 2004 and 2014, the BNR hotels were transferred from the Railways to IRCTC and later leased to Sujata Hotels for operation and maintenance. In return, a three-acre land parcel in Patna was transferred to Delight Marketing Company Pvt Ltd (later renamed Lara Projects LLP), allegedly controlled by associates of the Yadav family. The land was reportedly sold at below-market value and subsequently transferred to Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav. ty....