Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi have asked a Delhi court to stop daily hearings in the IRCTC scam case, citing multiple pending trials and ongoing election duties. The CBI opposed the plea, stressing Supreme Court’s directive for speedy trials of MPs and MLAs.
New Delhi: Former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) President Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi have requested a Delhi court not to hold a day-to-day hearing in the IRCTC scam case, in which they and their family members are facing criminal charges.
The matter came up before Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne of the Rouse Avenue Courts. Earlier, on October 13, the court had framed criminal charges against Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi, their son Tejashwi Yadav, and several others in connection with the case.
On the same day, the judge had also decided that the case would be heard on a day-to-day basis starting October 27.
When the case was heard today, Lalu Yadav and Rabri Devi’s lawyers submitted an application asking the court not to conduct daily hearings. Lawyers for other accused persons also made similar requests.
Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for Lalu Yadav and Rabri Devi, told the court that there are four different criminal cases pending against the Yadav family, and in all those cases, day-to-day hearings have been ordered.
Singh said that the same legal counsels are representing the accused in all these cases, and therefore they need adequate time to prepare for each matter.
He further explained that the defence team needed time to properly study the 18,000-page chargesheet and the 250-page court order framing the charges.
Singh told the judge,
“Your honour took four months to pass orders [on charge]. We thought of going through everything. Our clients are not here. The campaigning [for the Bihar elections] is going on. The entire scenario in the chargesheet has to be read in connection with and in correlation with the order on charge. There are certain aspects in your honour’s order that are not even in the chargesheet.”
Singh also requested the court to postpone the hearing by four weeks so that the defence could review all the case materials properly.
However, CBI’s Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) DP Singh strongly opposed the request, saying that as per the directions of the Supreme Court, cases involving Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) must be tried quickly and without unnecessary delay.
At this point, Judge Gogne remarked,
“Last month, it was observed or may be directed [by the Supreme Court] that the Sessions Courts have lost touch with day-to-day trial.”
The judge then directed Maninder Singh to provide a copy of the application to the CBI so that the investigating agency could file its response.
Meanwhile, the court also conducted the chief examination of one of the prosecution witnesses, who will later be called again for cross-examination.
According to the CBI, when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the Union Railway Minister, he and his family accepted valuable land and company shares as bribes in exchange for awarding contracts to a private firm.
The CBI has alleged that between 2004 and 2009, during Yadav’s tenure as Railway Minister, two IRCTC hotels in Ranchi and Puri were given on lease to a private company named Sujata Hotels through a manipulated tender process.
In return, land worth several crores was transferred to a company allegedly linked to Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav at a fraction of the actual market value.
The Yadav family has rejected these allegations, maintaining that the case is politically motivated and that there is no solid evidence against them.
On October 13, the court framed charges of corruption, cheating, and criminal conspiracy against Lalu Prasad Yadav.
His wife Rabri Devi and son Tejashwi Yadav were charged with cheating and conspiracy. All three pleaded not guilty, after which the court ordered that the trial would proceed on a day-to-day basis.
Apart from the members of the Yadav family, ten other people are also accused in the case.
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