LTC scam: JD(U) serves show cause notice to Anil Sahni

New Delhi, Apr 16: JD(U) today served a showcause notice to party MP Anil Sahni, who was charge sheeted by CBI for alleged cheating and corruption in LTC scam.

This comes after Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari gave his approval to CBI to prosecute Sahni. The party asked him to explain his conduct before former party President Sharad Yadav, who is leader of the party in Rajya Sabha within a week. "A charge sheet has been filed against you into the LTC case.

It has become a serious concern after Chairman of Rajya Sabha has granted permission for judicial proceedings into the matter. It is very clear to you that such involvement in financial irregularities are against pronounced policies of the party.

"Hope you will explain your position before leader of JD-U in Rajya Sabha Sharad Yadav within a week. In case you fail to do so, the party can take disciplinary action against you," JD-U general secretary K C Tyagi said in the show-cause notice sent to Sahani.

Sahni had yesterday denied the charges and refused to resign. "It's a conspiracy against me... Why shall I resign on moral ground when I have not done anything wrong," the second term Rajya Sabha member from Nitish Kumar's party had said in Patna yesterday.

Ansari had a few days back given his approval to CBI to prosecute Sahni against whom the agency had filed a charge sheet for alleged cheating and corruption in LTC Scam. Usually it is the party president to whom the MPs are asked to explain their conduct in such circumstances.

However, the party has been maintaining that Nitish Kumar's election as party president replacing Sharad Yadav does not mean that the latter has "retired" and that Yadav would continue to play a key role in party matters.

CBI had filed a charge sheet against Sahni alleging that he, in conspiracy with other persons, used forged e-tickets and fake boarding passes to defraud Rajya Sabha to the tune of Rs 23.71 lakh as travel and dearness allowance reimbursement without undertaking the actual journey.

Besides Sahni, whose term in Rajya Sabha ends in April 2018, others named in the CBI charge sheet were Anup Singh Panwar, an employee of Delhi-based Air Cruise Travels Private Limited, N S Nair, then Office Superintendent (Traffic), Air India and one Arvind Tiwari.

PTI