JD(U) expresses concern over delay in trial in hotels-for-land

The ruling JD(U) in Bihar today expressed concern over the delay, on part of the Centre, in granting sanction for prosecution of a senior Railway official in the hotels-for-land scam, in which former Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members have also been made accused.

The JD(U)'s stance assumes significance in the wake of the fact that its national president Nitish Kumar, who is also the Chief Minister, had last year severed ties with the RJD after the name of Lalu's son and then Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav had figured in the scam.

The party has taken a very serious note of the delay in grant of sanction to prosecute Bhupendra Kumar Agrawal, currently a Railway Board member who was the Chief General Manager of IRCTC in 2005 when the alleged irregularities had taken place, JD(U) spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad told PTI.

"Sanction for prosecution is normally granted within 90 days of filing of a charge sheet. That period has elapsed and unless the sanction is given, trial cannot commence before the court concerned. This is providing the accused unnecessary advantage. We would urge the Centre to do the needful at the earliest," Prasad said.

The hotels-for-land scam is related to giving the contract of maintenance of two Railway hotels in Ranchi and Puri to Patna-based hotelier brothers in 2005, when Lalu was the Railway minister, in return for three acres of prime land in the state capital.

The JD(U) spokesman was responding to a query about reports in the media, over the past couple of days, suggesting that the party was unhappy over the delay in grant of the sanction by the Centre.

One such report was today shared by Tejashwi Yadav on his official Twitter handle wherein he said the chief minister, without mentioning him by name, was weak and hence kept looking for excuses.

Declining to comment on a "match fixing" remark by a party colleague, Prasad nevertheless added, "We are allies in the state and so naturally, we expect that the BJP, being the party in power at the Centre, listens to and acts on issues that we raise. For example, we would appreciate if the drought-like situation in Bihar is taken note of and the state is provided assistance at the earliest."