Nitish govt hands over Bihar soil scam probe against Lalu, Tej Pratap to vigilance dept
The Nitish Kumar government today transferred teh Bihar soil scam probe to the vigilance department. RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav and son Tej Pratap Yadav are accused in the case.
More troubles are in store for RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav and his son elder son Tej Pratap Yadav. The Nitish Kumar government of Bihar has handed over the investigation of soil scam to the vigilance department.
Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tej Pratap are accused in the scam. The decision to transfer the probe to the vigilance department came a week after the Patna High Court directed the Bihar government to file action taken report in the soil scam case within six weeks.
The Patna High Court passed the order on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed in April seeking independent inquiry either by the CBI or a judicial commission.
The scam involves alleged purchase of soil of more than Rs 90 lakh by Patna's Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park from the firm associated with the Tej Pratap Yadav. He was the state environment and forest minister then.
WHAT IS BIHAR SOIL SCAM?
The PIL was filed by high court lawyer Manibhushan Pratap Sengar, who had named chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, principal secretaries of the environment and forest, and urban development departments and director of Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, Patna, Nand Kishore among others as accused in the soil scam.
According to the allegations leveled in the petition, under Tej Pratap Yadav as minister, the environment and forest department drafted a bogus beautification scheme for the Patna zoo. It was done to facilitate the purchase of soil.
The petitioner also alleged that the purchase of land was related to another project by a firm - the Lara Projects Pvt Ltd - at Saguna Mor in Patna. Both of Lalu Prasad Yadav's sons - Tej Pratap and Tejashwi, the then deputy chief minister - were directors in the firm, which was constructing a mall at Saguna Mor.
The petitioner said that earth had been dug up at the mall construction site which needed to be cleaned up. To accommodate the earth dug up at the Saguna Mor, the purchase of soil was manufactured in the name of beautification of the zoo and botanical garden.
The construction of the mall has since been stopped by the Union environment and forest department.