Court junks Rabri's plea to transfer cases from Judge

New Delhi: A local court today dismissed a plea filed by former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, seeking transfer of IRCTC and land-for-jobs cases from the special CBI judge.

As first reported by ET, CBI had opposed Rabri's plea stating that her plea is "nothing but a feeble attempt of forum shopping." In a sharply worded reply, the CBI had submitted that Rabri's plea is "nothing more than a mala fide attempt to hoodwink the court and is simply an attempt to not only scandalise the court but also browbeat the special judge, so as to cause direct interference with the independent and fair administration of justice".

In her plea, Rabri had sought transfer of all four cases from Special Judge Vishal Gogne who framed charges against her and her family members in the alleged IRCTC scandal. These include the IRCTC case, the alleged cash-for-jobs case being prosecuted by CBI, and the money laundering proceedings associated with them being investigated by the ED.


In October, Judge Gogne had framed charges against Lalu Prasad, Rabri, son Tejashwi Yadav and other co-accused for their alleged involvement in the IRCTC case. Before passing the judgment, the Sessions Court had sought comments from Judge Gogne.

Submitting that the orders passed by the special judge "are after judicial application of mind and true to his duties," the CBI had submitted that "any transfer of case on apprehension of a bias has larger repercussions, more so based on mere surmises and conjectures."