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

A Delhi court on Friday (December 19, 2025) refused to transfer criminal cases against former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi, Lalu Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav and other members of their family from special judge Vishal Gogne.

Principal and District judge Dinesh Bhatt dismissed Ms. Devi’s plea, who, last month, had approached the court requesting transfer of case from the current judge citing his biases towards her and her family.

Judge Gogne is currently dealing with alleged IRCTC scam, cash-for-jobs case and the money laundering proceedings associated with them which are being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED). He had framed criminal charges against Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Yadav and several others in the IRCTC case on October 13.

In its reply to the court, the CBI had claimed that the transfer application from Ms. Devi was “a mala fide attempt’ to hoodwink the court. It added that the applicant is trying to scandalise the court but also browbeat the current judge 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.

A detailed order in the matter is awaited.