Lalu Yadav, Rabdi Devi (R).
Supreme Court Refuses Lalu Yadav’s Plea to Stay Land-for-Job Scam Trial: New Delhi, India (July 18, 2025) – The Supreme Court of India on Friday declined to entertain Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s plea seeking a stay on trial court proceedings in the alleged land-for-job scam case. Yadav had challenged the Delhi High Court’s earlier refusal to halt the trial, but the apex court has now directed the High Court to expeditiously decide the main petition for quashing the CBI case.
While the Supreme Court did not grant the stay on trial, it offered a measure of relief to the veteran politician by stating that his physical presence before the trial court may be dispensed with.
Lalu Prasad Yadav had initially approached the Delhi High Court seeking to quash the First Information Report (FIR) registered against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2022. He had also urged the High Court to stay the trial court proceedings during the pendency of his plea. On May 29, the High Court issued notice to the CBI but found no compelling reasons to stay the ongoing proceedings before the trial court.
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Subsequently, Yadav moved the Supreme Court, primarily arguing that the trial could not proceed without the mandatory sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. He contended that “the very registration of the PE and FIR/RC requires a prior sanction/approval of the competent authority” and that the CBI “failed to obtain the legal bar/sanction before registration.”
A Bench comprising Justice MM Sundresh and Justice N Kotiswar Singh, after hearing brief arguments on Yadav’s plea, indicated its intention to direct the High Court to decide the primary petition seeking the quashing of the CBI case. The Court then proceeded to issue a directive for the High Court to decide the matter expeditiously.
The CBI’s allegations in the land-for-job scam case date back to Yadav’s tenure as Union Railway Minister between 2004 and 2009. The investigative agency claims that various residents of Bihar were allegedly given jobs in the railways in exchange for their or their family members transferring land in the name of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family members.
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In his plea before the Supreme Court, Yadav further asserted that the FIR registered in 2022 involved similar allegations that had already been investigated between 2009 and 2014 and subsequently closed by competent authorities. He termed the current investigation a violation of his fundamental rights, stating, “The Petitioner had to suffer through an illegal motivated investigation which is prima facie violative of his fundamental right to have a fair investigation as enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.”
The Supreme Court’s decision to not stay the trial, while simultaneously urging for a swift resolution of the quashing petition by the High Court, sets the stage for the next phase of this high-profile corruption case. The dispensation of Lalu Prasad Yadav‘s physical presence in court offers a practical concession, but the legal battle over the validity of the case itself continues.
