Delhi judge rejects Lalu Yadav plea, says it was a ruse to delay trial

ANew delhi margaret court on wed dismissed a plea moved by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his married woman Rabri Devi to seek provide of “unrelied documents” in the land-for-jobs case, observing that the “self-serving” prayer was a “ruse” to delay the trial.In a 35-page order, special judge Vishal Gogne of Rouse Avenue Courts said the accused hadn’t persuaded the court that there were any special circumstances to permit production of any document prior to the stage of defence evidence.“The court is unable to rule out that much like the previous effort to seek the cover of judicial orders for gaining time, the present prayer for being provided with all unrelied documents is also a similar ruse to trigger countless applications qua unrelied documents akin to the prayers under section 207 CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure),” the judge said.“Unrelied documents” refer to documents that are seized by police during the investigation, but not relied upon before the commencement of the trial, usually because they do not further the prosecution case.Lawyer Varun Jain, who appeared for the two former chief ministers, had argued that multiple Supreme Court verdicts mandated the provision of supplying all unrelied documents by the prosecution to the defence at the stage of trial.Jain reasoned that supplying unrelied documents would prove effective for the defence to examine the next two prosecution witnesses, namely two approvers.Prosecutor DP Singh, who appeared for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), contended that the accused had not even identified the proposed documents relevant to their defence though the federal agency had provided them with a list of unrelied documents more than a year ago.The prosecutor added that the accused was required to provide cogent justification to summon specific documents and criminal procedure code did not allow a blanket provision to supply them even when the case had not reached the stage of defence evidence.In its order, the court said that the accused could not impose a condition upon the continuity of the judicial proceedings by way of moving a “self-serving” plea for supply of unrelied documents.The court also said that the accused had been provided adequate opportunity to inspect the documents which are part of the unrelied basket of evidence.The court observed that the supply of the documents, even before the prosecution evidence has been initiated, goes against the scheme of a criminal trial and examination of 1,675 unrelied documents shall “throw the trial proceedings into a complete disarray”.“Control of the court over trial, in the statutory perspective, cannot be permitted to be appropriated by the accused under the veneer of cross-examination,” the special court said.The court noted that the plea was designed by the accused persons to condemn the trial to a maze at the very outset. “And that too when the accused have not even begun to lay out any particular defence by way of questions, suggestions or projected defence,” the court noted.The court added, “The law must guard against unreasonable, impractical and awkward outcomes. Applicants (Lalu and Rabri) have evidently wagered upon precisely such an unreasonable outcome”.The court said it could sense an “underlying intent” on part of the accused to “drag the peoceedings” into an exercise similar to section 207 of CrPC, seeking missing or illegible documents. “A court of trial must guard against latent motives of applicants apart from unreasonable outcomes,” the order read.The court also dismissed the applications moved by two other accused seeking supply of specific unrelied documents.On January 9, a Delhi court framed corruption and criminal conspiracy charges against Yadav, a former railway minister, his wife Rabri Devi, and their sons and daughters, noting thar Yadav used the railway ministry as his personal fiefdom to carry out a criminal enterprise.The court had said that the CBI’s charge sheet revealed an overarching conspiracy wherein public employment was used as a bargaining chip by Yadav to acquire land in the name of his family.The court had discharged 52 accused but framed charges against 41 accused.CBI registered the case on May 18, 2022, alleging that Lalu Yadav, during his tenure as the railway minister between 2004 and 2009, distributed Group D jobs in different zones of railway in lieu of land allegedly transferred by the candidates to his family and other close associates.CBI filed its first charge sheet before a Delhi court in 2023.Based on the CBI’s case, ED subsequently filed a money laundering case and submitted a charge sheet in 2024.Yadav and his family also face corruption charges in connection with the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) hotel corruption case. A Delhi court, which framed charges against him in October 2025, noted at the time that Yadav influenced the tender process of two IRCTC owned hotels by awarding the same to Sujata hotels.