Delhi HC to hear Lalu Prasad's plea against IRCTC scam charges on January 5

The Delhi High Court is expected to take up on Monday, January 5, 2026, a petition filed by RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav challenging a special court's order framing charges against him in the alleged IRCTC scam case.

The former Union Railway Minister recently approached the High Court against the order. The matter is listed before Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma.

On October 13, the special court had framed charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act against the accused. In its order, the court observed that the land and share transactions involved in the case were possibly an instance of crony capitalism carried out under the guise of inviting private participation in the Railways' hotels at Ranchi and Puri.

Besides Lalu Prasad, the court 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 PC Act. Section 13(2) provides for punishment for criminal misconduct by a public servant, while clauses (ii) and (iii) of Section 13(1)(d) deal with abuse of position to obtain favours.

The court also directed that charges under IPC Section 420 (cheating) be framed against Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi, son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, M/s LARA Projects LLP, Vijay Kochhar, Vinay Kochhar, Sarla Gupta and Prem Chand Gupta.

A common charge was ordered against all 14 accused under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC, read with Section 420 IPC and Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d)(ii) and (iii) of the PC Act.

The maximum punishment under the PC Act is 10 years, while cheating carries a maximum term of seven years.