The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought a response from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on a plea filed by RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav challenging the trial court order framing charges against him in the alleged IRCTC scam case.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued notice to the CBI on Tejashwi’s petition as well as his application seeking a stay on the proceedings. The matter has been listed for further hearing on January 14, the same day when a similar plea filed by his father and former Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav will also be taken up.

On October 13, 2025, the trial court framed charges against Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi, son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, and 11 other accused. The charges include offences of cheating and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with provisions of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.

Both Tejashwi and Lalu have approached the High Court challenging the trial court’s order, which arises out of alleged irregularities in the grant of operational contracts of two Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) hotels to a private firm.

Apart from Lalu Prasad, charges under Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d)(ii) and (iii) of the PC Act were framed against Pradeep Kumar Goel, Rakesh Saksena, Bhupendra Kumar Agarwal, Rakesh Kumar Gogia and Vinod Kumar Asthana. These provisions deal with criminal misconduct by a public servant and abuse of official position to obtain undue advantage.

The trial court also directed that charges under IPC Section 420 (cheating) be framed against Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, M/s LARA Projects LLP, Vijay Kochhar, Vinay Kochhar, Sarla Gupta and Prem Chand Gupta.

Further, a common charge of criminal conspiracy under Section 120B IPC was ordered to be framed against all 14 accused, read with Section 420 IPC and the relevant provisions of the PC Act.

Under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the maximum punishment prescribed is 10 years of imprisonment, while the offence of cheating under the IPC carries a maximum sentence of seven years.

Chandigarh: In a major crackdown on trans-border drug smuggling, the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF), in coordination with the Border Security Force (BSF), has recovered nearly 20 kg of heroin and arrested four accused, including a key operative allegedly managing the supply chain.

Punjab Police Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said on Tuesday that preliminary investigations indicate the key operative was in contact with Pakistan-based handlers and was coordinating the delivery and distribution of drug consignments across the region.

“An FIR has been registered under the NDPS Act, and the investigation is underway to identify cross-border handlers, trace supply routes and dismantle the entire network,” the DGP said in a post on X.

Further investigations are ongoing to uncover the full extent of the smuggling racket and its interstate and cross-border linkages.

 Delhi’s air quality continued to remain in the ‘poor’ category during the morning hours on Tuesday, with the city’s average Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 293, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board’s Sameer app.

Station-wise data revealed that Chandni Chowk recorded the worst air quality, with an AQI of 352, placing it in the ‘very poor’ category. Of the monitoring stations across the city, 20 recorded ‘very poor’ air quality, 15 fell under the ‘poor’ category, while two stations reported ‘moderate’ air quality.

As per CPCB standards, an AQI of 0–50 is classified as ‘good’, 51–100 as ‘satisfactory’, 101–200 ‘moderate’, 201–300 ‘poor’, 301–400 ‘very poor’ and 401–500 ‘severe’. On Monday, Delhi’s 24-hour average AQI stood at 244, also in the ‘poor’ category.

The Air Quality Early Warning System has forecast that the city’s air quality is likely to remain in the poor to very poor range over the next six days.

On the weather front, shallow fog was observed in parts of the national capital during the morning hours. The minimum temperature was recorded at 7.6 degrees Celsius, which is 0.7 degrees above the seasonal average. The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 18 degrees Celsius.

The India Meteorological Department reported relative humidity levels of up to 100 per cent in some parts of the city during the morning. Station-wise data showed that Safdarjung, Lodhi Road, Ridge and Ayanagar recorded a minimum temperature of 7.6 degrees Celsius, while Palam registered a slightly lower minimum of 6.5 degrees Celsius.

A 15-year-old boy has been apprehended in Punjab’s Pathankot for allegedly sharing information about sensitive locations with Pakistani handlers, police said on Tuesday According to police, the boy was radicalised on a social media platform.

Police had received information that the boy was in contact with and was providing information concerning the country’s security to Pakistan military officers, ISI and frontal organisations running terror modules in that country, Pathankot Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Daljinder Singh Dhillon said.

On the basis of this information, the boy was apprehended on Monday and questioned, the SSP told reporters in Pathankot.

The SSP said the boy had lost his father, who resided in J-K, over an year back and suspected that he was murdered.

Police investigations did not find that the boy’s father was murdered but the boy suspected so and it affected his psyche, the SSP said.

The boy visited many social media platforms and during this he fell in the trap of the Pakistani agencies and was in touch with them for the past one year, he said.

The Pakistani agents had created a clone of the boy’s mobile phone, Dhillon said.

Describing the boy as tech-savvy, the SSP said Pakistani agencies and handlers had started taking information from his mobile phone through cloning.

He had done videography of some important locations and taken information. Possibly if his phone was hacked that information could have even gone live, SSP said.

He was also in touch with gangsters running terror module, he said.

“Had we not apprehended him, in future he could have carried out any kind of activity,” he said. (Agencies)