IRCTC 'scam' case: Delhi High Court refuses to stay trial against Lalu Yadav, asks CBI to file reply

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to stay for now the trial against RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav, and asked the CBI to file its response to his plea challenging an order framing charges against him in the alleged IRCTC scam case.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said it cannot pass an order on the stay application without hearing or going through the reply of the probe agency.

The court issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Yadav's petition and stay application, and listed the matter for further hearing on January 14. It also called for the trial court record of the case.

During the brief hearing, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Maninder Singh, representing Lalu Yadav, said they are seeking stay on the trial court proceedings and two witnesses have been examined in a month.

The high court said it will consider the stay application on January 14 after the CBI files its reply.

“Let them file a reply. You should have come earlier, you didn’t come. The trial court order was passed earlier,” Justice Sharma said.

The CBI’s counsel also sought time to file a reply in the matter.

On October 13, 2025, the trial court had framed charges against the accused persons -- Lalu, his wife Rabri Devi, son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and 11 others -- in the case for the alleged offences of cheating, criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The former union railway minister approached the high court assailing the trial court's order in the case, which stems from alleged irregularities in the grant of operational contracts of two Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) hotels to a private firm.

According to the CBI chargesheet, a conspiracy was allegedly hatched between 2004 and 2014 in pursuance of which BNR hotels of the Indian Railways, located in Puri and Ranchi, were first transferred to IRCTC and later, for its operations, maintenance and upkeep, given on lease to Sujata Hotels Private Limited, which is based in Patna, Bihar.

The agency alleged that the tender process was rigged and manipulated and the conditions were tweaked to help Sujata Hotels, a private entity.

The chargesheet also named the group general managers of IRCTC V K Asthana and R K Goyal, as well as Vijay Kochhar and Vinay Kochhar, both directors of Sujata Hotels and owners of Chanakya Hotel.

Delight Marketing Company, now known as Lara Projects, and Sujata Hotels Private Limited have also been named as accused firms in the chargesheet.

The trial court had made a scathing observation that the land and share transactions in the case were "possibly an instance of crony capitalism fostered in the garb of eliciting private participation in the Railways' hotels at Ranchi and Puri."

Besides Lalu Yadav, the court had framed charges against Pradeep Kumar Goel, Rakesh Saksena, Bhupendra Kumar Agarwal, Rakesh Kumar Gogia and Vinod Kumar Asthana under Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d)(ii) and (iii) of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.

Section 13 (2) deals with the punishment for criminal misconduct by a public servant, and Section 13(1)(d)(ii) and (iii) with abuse of position by a public servant to obtain favours.

The court had also directed that the charge be framed under IPC section 420 (cheating) against Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi, M/s Lara Projects LLP, Vijay Kochhar, Vinay Kochhar, Sarla Gupta, and Prem Chand Gupta.

"A common charge is directed to be framed against all (14) accused under section 120B (criminal conspiracy) IPC read with section 420 IPC and section 13(2) read with section 13(1)(d)(ii) and (iii) PC Act," the court had said.

The maximum punishment under the PC Act is 10 years, while for cheating is seven years.