Decision on Jaya Bachchan's RS seat this week

Lucknow, Apr 16: Even as cine star and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan prepares for her son Abhishek's mega marriage with former Miss World Aishwarya Rai in a few days, an important decision on the fate of her Rajya Sabha membership will be decided this week. On the directive of the Election Commission(EC), principal secretary(assembly) Rajendra Prasad Pandey is slated to decide on the petition filed against her for concealing facts about immovable property in her affidavit filed along with the nomination papers for the RS polls in 2006.

In 2005, Jaya was disqualified by the EC for holding an office of profit as chairperson of the 'UP Film Development Corporation.' She was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha in a bypoll held in June 2006 after the post was removed from the office of profit category.

Mr Pandey told UNI here that Ms Bachchan has replied to the notice served by the EC. Today was the last date for filing the reply.

The principal secretary and returning officer of the RS poll said the EC have asked him to decide on merits on the complaint and the reply given by the MP.

''We are examining all the details and will give the verdict within a week,'' he said.

On March 30, EC gave Ms Bachchan a last chance to reply by April 16 on the charges after she failed to answer on a similar notice issued on February 5, 2007.

A Congress leader, Amir Haider, an advocate in neighboring Barabanki district, had filed a petition with the EC on October 19, 2006 stating Jaya had concealed facts about two properties in the name of her husband Amitabh Bachchan, which were purchased just a fortnight before filing the affidavit for the RS by poll.

Ms Bachchan is in trouble for the second time since she resigned from the RS following the office of profit controversy. She has been charged with filing an incomplete affidavit while contesting the RS bypolls in 2006. The complaint alleges that she had not mentioned about the new pieces of land purchased by the star couple.

Amir Haider claimed that Jaya had not disclosed those two pieces of land, which were purchased in May, 2006, which tantamount to concealing facts and is, therefore, punishable under the RP Act.

The affidavit of Jaya filed on June 1, 2006 shows only one piece of land of 0.25 hectare in Big B's name.

However, it did not mention other two pieces of land measuring 1.3 hectares and 1.5 hectares, which were purchased in the name of Amitabh at Daulatpur village of Fatehpur tehsil, Barabanki. The land mentioned in the affidavit also entered into a controversy with a petition in the High Court claiming it was a Gram Samaj (village council) land meant to be distributed among the poor and landless farmers of Dalit community.

Meanwhile, the Congress leader said EC had sent him a letter dated January 22, 2007 stating they were investigating the charges and the Chief electoral officer of UP has been directed to probe the matter.

''I am certain that EC will take cognizance of my charges and there are possibilities that she may have to quit the RS membership,'' he said.

Similarly, a petition was pending in the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Cour alleging a Gram Samaj land was allotted by the Barabanki district authorities to the Bachchans.

Satya Narayan Shukla, one of the petitioners who declared himself a farmer from the district, alleged the land allotment to the mega star by the state government was done by flouting laws and rules of allotment of land belonging to Gram Sabha.

The petition had challenged the order of the then Barabanki DM R S Sahu, passed on April 26, 2006, in which the name of Amitabh Bachchan was allegedly recorded as 'transferable bhumidhar'.

It further claimed the land status as 'barren land of Gram Samaj' was altered in the allotment. ''This kind of land can only be allotted to landless farmers of the same village,'' it argued.

The petition also alleged that Sahu's predecessor Ashis Goel had ordered on March 24, 2006 for rectification of land records as irregularities on mutation process of the land were detected at that time. But R S Sahu stayed the previous order for rectification and formalised the hand over of the land to the Bachchans.

However, sources in the Land Revenue Department said the state government would cite land allotment to Bachchan was made way back in 1983. They said there was an order passed on January 11, 1983 by the then consolidation officer allotting the land to Big B.

UNI