Legislators of the Rashtriya Janata Dal created an uproar in the Bihar Assembly on Friday after a media report said the Central Bureau of Investigation may have filed a corruption case against party chief Lalu Prasad Yadav without evidence.
The CBI’s Economic Offences Division filed the case in June even after its legal wing said there was “no evidence” against Yadav, The Indian Express reported on Friday.
The CBI had alleged that when Yadav was railway minister in 2006, he ensured that a tender for developing and running two railway hotels in Ranchi and Puri be awarded to a benami company owned by the wife of an RJD MP. He was accused of having received a three-acre plot in return, reportedly worth Rs 45 crore.
Benami – a North Indian term – is used to refer to a transaction or contract held or carried out in the name of someone other than the person who has financed it.
The legislators, led by Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, began shouting slogans in the Assembly as soon as proceedings began on Friday, PTI reported. They said the report proved that Lalu Prasad Yadav had been framed as part of a “political conspiracy”.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shravan Kumar said the government was ready to respond to the Opposition’s questions if they did not obstruct proceedings. Speaker VK Chaudhary asked the Rashtriya Janata Dal members to raise the topic during the zero hour instead. However, they continued shouting slogans, after which the speaker adjourned proceedings till 2 pm.
“The newspaper report vindicates our stand that Lalu Prasad and his supporters are being harassed in the name of corruption cases,” Tejashwi Yadav said later. “This is a clear indication of investigating agencies acting under political pressure”.
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