Misa to be represented by lawyer in benami property case

Misa Bharti, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad's daughter, who was to appear before the Income Tax Department on Tuesday in a case about alleged benami property deals, said she is in Patna and would be represented by her lawyer.

"Since I am in Patna, I won't be appearing before the IT department," Bharti told IANS over phone.

She said her case would be represented by her lawyer.

Bharti, a Rajya Sabha member from Bihar, was summoned by the IT department on May 24 to appear before it on June 6. Her husband Shailesh Kumar has been summoned to depose on June 7.

Properties where the real beneficiary, the one who pays, is not the one in whose name the property has been bought are called benami properties.

Earlier on May 16, the IT Department raided 22 places in and around Delhi in connection with alleged benami property deals involving Lalu Prasad and his children - Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav and Misa Bharti.

Besides the residence of the RJD supremo, raids were also conducted at the residence of party MP P.C. Gupta as well as several businessmen and real estate agents in Delhi and Haryana's Gurugram and Rewari, on the allegations by former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushil Kumar Modi.

Modi has alleged involvement of Lalu Prasad and his three children in corrupt land deals.

--IANS

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