The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) response to a plea filed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav in connection with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) hotels case.
Tejashwi had filed a petition against a trial court’s order framing charges against him in connection with the alleged IRCTC scam case.
After issuing a notice to the CBI, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma listed the matter for further hearing on January 14, when his father Lalu Prasad Yadav’s similar plea will also be heard.
What’s the case?
On October 13, 2025, the trial court framed charges against the accused persons — Lalu, his wife Rabri Devi, son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and 11 others — in the case for the alleged offenses of cheating, criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Tejashwi and Lalu, the former union railway minister, approached the high court assailing the trial court’s order, 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.
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.
