JD-U's show cause notice to its MP Anil Sahani

Bihar's ruling JD-U on Saturday issued a show cause notice to its Rajya Sabha MP Anil Sahani for alleged fraud in leave travel concessions, asking him to submit his reply within a week.

Stating that the party has issued a show cause notice to Sahani and sought his explanation on this within a week, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) general secretary K.C. Tyagi said: "JD-U has taken the development seriously and asked Sahani to explain his stand before taking any disciplinary action against him."

According to a JD-U source, top party leaders have advised Sahani to resign from Rajya Sabha membership on moral grounds as Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President Hamid Ansari has given the CBI sanction to prosecute him for alleged fraud in leave travel concessions.

Sahani, however, has denied any wrong-doing and warned of filing a defamation case.

The scam relates to reimbursements being claimed against fake boarding passes and bills from the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.

It has been revealed that Sahani and three other accused allegedly used forged e-tickets and fake boarding passes to defraud the Rajya Sabha of Rs.23.71 lakh.

This is the first time a Rajya Sabha chairman has given such a clearance, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat sources said.

The CBI had filed a chargesheet in the case last year, and with the clearance from the Rajya Sabha chairman Ansari, the agency will now proceed with "further action" which is likely to be the arrest of the MP.

Members of parliament or assemblies cannot be arrested without prior permission of the speaker of the Lok Sabha or the assembly or Rajya Sabha or legislative council chairman.

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar twice sanctioned arrests, first in 2010 against Congress MP Rajaram Pal in the cash-for-query scam, and second time against BJP MP Ashok Argal in the cash-for-vote case.