JOIN USBharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd has served a show cause to Bihar minister Tej Pratap Yadav, seeking his reply on the allocation of a petrol pump to him in the city by the company.
The notice was delivered to Tej Pratap, state minister for health, minor water resources, environment and forest in the grand alliance government of Nitish Kumar, on May 29. The show cause gave him 15 days time from the date of receipt for submitting his reply.
Tej Pratap is Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad’s elder son. The notice followed a complaint that Tej Pratap had acquired the petrol pump at the busy Anisabad bypass road here on the basis of “wrong” information. A copy of the notice was made available to the media.
Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi had highlighted the issue in a series of allegations levelled against Lalu Prasad’s family. Tej Pratap had applied for the petrol pump in 2012 and the retail outlet was commissioned to M/S Lara Automobiles, represented by him as its proprietor, on February 27.
According to the complainant, Tej Pratap had falsely declared that he has land in his name for the retail allotment, whereas the real owner of the said land is M/S A K Infosystems. The notice further sought an explanation from him as to whether he could spare time to look after the outlet’s activities.
“We have observed that you are at present discharging duty of minister for health, minor water resources, environment and forest of Bihar, which may suggest that you are not in a position to carry out obligations contained in the agreement personally,” the notice stated.