The bench headed by Justice Ravinder Dudeja said the petition had no merit and dismissed it.

Earlier, Lalu Yadav had moved the Court to challenge the FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation. He also asked for the chargesheets and trial court orders in the case to be set aside. Earlier, the High Court had refused to stay the trial, and that decision was upheld by the Supreme Court of India.

In his defence, Yadav argued that the CBI did not take mandatory approval under the Prevention of Corruption Act before filing the FIR. He also pointed out that the case was filed after a delay of about 14 years, as the alleged acts relate to the period between 2004 and 2009.

The case is based on allegations that during his time as Railway Minister, Yadav gave Group D jobs in the Railways in return for land transferred to his family at very low prices.

According to the CBI, several candidates or their relatives allegedly transferred land in Patna and other places to Yadav’s family without any proper recruitment process, as part of a deal.

Yadav and his family have denied all allegations, calling the case politically motivated.

Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Maninder Singh appeared for Yadav, while the CBI was represented by Additional Solicitors General SV Raju and DP Singh along with other lawyers.