Writ against Lalu daughter over Harvard lecture claim

A case of alleged cheating and criminal breach of trust was filed against Misa Bharti, daughter of RJD president Lalu Prasad, for claiming that she was a speaker at a function in Harvard University—a claim rubbished by the university authority.

The BJP’s state vice-president of Art and Culture wing Chandra Prakash Prashar filed the writ in the court of Muzaffarpur Chief Judicial Magistrate Ved Prakash Singh against Misa.

The writ has been filed under IPC Sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 465 (punishment for forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record).

Prashar had distributed a copy of the writ to mediapersons, and said the court has fixed June 5 as the date of hearing.

A controversy had erupted recently after Misa posted pictures on her Facebook page on March 7, purportedly showing her on the stage addressing the audience.

The photograph bore a caption about Bharti delivering a lecture on the role of youth at Harvard.

Harvard issued a clarification that “Misa Bharti was invited as part of the audience and not as a speaker of any panel at the India Conference at Harvard”.

“Her attendee status can also be confirmed from the fact that she had to purchase a ticket as an audience. She was not invited to deliver any lecture,” it had said.

The Harvard Kennedy School Communications Department has also taken cognisance and was looking into the matter, it said.