Delhi court rejects Rabri Devi’s plea to transfer cases from judge alleging bias

A Delhi court on Friday dismissed a plea filed by former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi seeking transfer of criminal cases against her and her family members to another court, alleging bias on the part of Special Judge Vishal Gogne. Principal and District Judge Dinesh Bhatt dismissed the plea seeking transfer of four cases filed by the ED and the CBI against Rabri Devi and her family members, including her husband Lalu Prasad Yadav, son Tejashwi Yadav and others. A detailed order is awaited.

The four cases are linked to the land-for-jobs and IRCTC scam, which are being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Earlier, in a detailed reply filed before the judge in the IRCTC scam, the CBI said the transfer application was “a mala fide attempts by the applicant (Rabri Devi) to hoodwink the court, and simply an attempt to not only scandalise the court but also browbeat the special judge (Vishal Gogne), so as to cause direct interference with the independent and fair administration of justice”.

The CBI also said that Rabri Devi raised the issue of “bias” only after extensive arguments were heard over several months, charges were framed, and the trial moved to the evidence stage.