Tej Pratap Yadav had been given the licence for the petrol pump in 2011
Patna:
The licence of a petrol pump in the heart of Patna, owned by Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, who is Bihar's Health Minister, was terminated by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited on Thursday.
The notice was handed over two days after a court in Patna lifted its stay order on Bharat Petroleum's termination order which had been challenged by the 29-year-old Bihar health minister.
The public sector oil firm had sent a query to Tej Pratap in May asking him how he got the licence for the petrol pump and why it should not be cancelled after the opposition BJP in the state alleged that the petrol pump had been acquired illegally and that was why the minister had not revealed it in his list of assets.
However, Tej Pratap's party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD, claims the pump was not operational and so was not declared by the minister.
Tej Pratap Yadav had been given the licence for the petrol pump in 2011, though the land was in the name of an entrepreneur, Amit Katyal. It is now in the name of a company called AK Infosystems, in which Lalu Yadav's younger son, the state's Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav is a director.
The petrol pump was one of the BJP's many allegations against the family of Lalu Yadav. In May, senior BJP leader Sushil Modi held 10 press conferences, alleging multiple instances of corruption. On each occasion, he has released documents that, he says, were evidence.
The minister's family has denied all the allegations. Asked about his sons' extensive business interests, Lalu, as he is fondly referred to by supporters, had said, "Should my sons die in poverty?"
The Yadavs, whose RJD co-governs Bihar with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party, have been in the media glare over controversial land deals. Lalu Yadav, his sons and daughter Misa Bharti are being investigated over allegations that they acquired large tracts of land with benami or proxy ownership when Yadav senior was a union minister.
The notice was handed over two days after a court in Patna lifted its stay order on Bharat Petroleum's termination order which had been challenged by the 29-year-old Bihar health minister.
The public sector oil firm had sent a query to Tej Pratap in May asking him how he got the licence for the petrol pump and why it should not be cancelled after the opposition BJP in the state alleged that the petrol pump had been acquired illegally and that was why the minister had not revealed it in his list of assets.
However, Tej Pratap's party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD, claims the pump was not operational and so was not declared by the minister.
Tej Pratap Yadav had been given the licence for the petrol pump in 2011, though the land was in the name of an entrepreneur, Amit Katyal. It is now in the name of a company called AK Infosystems, in which Lalu Yadav's younger son, the state's Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav is a director.
The petrol pump was one of the BJP's many allegations against the family of Lalu Yadav. In May, senior BJP leader Sushil Modi held 10 press conferences, alleging multiple instances of corruption. On each occasion, he has released documents that, he says, were evidence.
The minister's family has denied all the allegations. Asked about his sons' extensive business interests, Lalu, as he is fondly referred to by supporters, had said, "Should my sons die in poverty?"
The Yadavs, whose RJD co-governs Bihar with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party, have been in the media glare over controversial land deals. Lalu Yadav, his sons and daughter Misa Bharti are being investigated over allegations that they acquired large tracts of land with benami or proxy ownership when Yadav senior was a union minister.
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