New Delhi, Jan 6 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on a plea filed by RJD leader and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister, Tejashwi Yadav, challenging a trial court order that directed the framing of criminal charges against him and his family members in the alleged IRCTC hotel scam case.
After briefly hearing the matter, a single-judge Bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma sought the response of the CBI and issued notice on Tejashwi Yadav’s criminal revision petition as well as on the application seeking a stay of the trial court’s proceedings.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Maninder Singh, appearing for Tejashwi Yadav, informed the Delhi High Court that a similar plea filed by his father, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, has already been listed for hearing on January 14.
Taking note of the submission, Justice Sharma directed that Tejashwi Yadav’s plea be considered on the same date.
In his petition, Tejashwi Yadav has assailed the order passed by the Rouse Avenue Court, which found sufficient grounds to proceed against him and other accused for offences relating to corruption, criminal conspiracy and cheating in connection with the IRCTC scam.
In an order passed on October 13, 2025, Special Judge (PC Act) Vishal Gogne of the Rouse Avenue Courts paved the way for the trial of Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, his son Tejashwi Yadav, and other accused under Sections 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, after they pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The special court had reserved its order on May 29 after hearing detailed arguments on the issue of framing of charges against Lalu Prasad Yadav, his family members, Prem Gupta, Sarla Gupta and Railway officials Rakesh Saksena and P.K. Goyal.
The alleged scam pertained to the period between 2004 and 2009, when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the Railway Minister. During his tenure, two IRCTC hotels were allegedly given on lease without following prescribed norms. One of the hotels was allotted to Sarla Gupta, wife of Prem Gupta, a close associate of the RJD chief and a Rajya Sabha MP at the time. As per the prosecution, the RJD leader got three acres of prime land through a benami company. Claiming that there were no irregularities on his part, Lalu Prasad Yadav has maintained that the tenders were awarded in a fair and transparent manner and had sought his discharge from the case.