Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited on Thursday terminated the licence of a petrol pump that was allotted to Bihar Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav. The company revoked the licence as the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son had allegedly furnished fake details at the time of allotment, NDTV reported.
On July 19, a Patna court had withdrawn its interim stay on BPCL order being executed to cancel the licence. Yadav had challenged this order in the court.
The Bihar minister had acquired the licence for the petrol pump in 2011. The plot was registered under the name of one Amit Katyal, but the land is now in the name of AK Infosystems, a company in which the state’s Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Lalu Prasad Yadav’s other son, is a director.
The Bharatiya Janta Party has demanded that both brothers resign from their posts. The had filed corruption charges against Tejashwi Yadav. “Tej Pratap grossly misused his position as a minister in Nitish Kumar’s Cabinet,” BJP leader Sushil Modi told News18. “The cancellation of a petrol pump licence after the court’s order should be enough for Nitish to sack him, if he does not resign.”
The allegations were first made by Bihar BJP chief Sushil Kumar Modi. He had said that Tej Pratap Yadav had illegally acquired the petrol pump, which is located at the heart of Patna. The BJP had asked questioned why the petrol pump was not declared in his assets. The RJD had said the petrol pump had not been operational then.
The Yadavs, including Lalu Prasad, his sons, his wife Rabri Devi and daughter Misa Bharti, are being investigated over allegations that they acquired benami ownership of land at subsidised rates.
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