RJD MLA gets 3 years jail for fake LTC claims

PATNA:  Anil Sahani is likely to be the second Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA in a few weeks’ time to lose the membership of Bihar legislative assembly, after Delhi Court sentenced him to three years in jail for fraudulently claiming Leave Travel Concession (LTC) reimbursements when he was a member of the Rajya Sabha. 

Sahani, who represents the Kudhani assembly constituency in Muzaffarpur district, will be the second RJD lawmaker to be terminated from the House in recent past and the fifth in the state following their conviction in criminal cases.

Recently Anant Singh, the RJD MLA from Mokama, was disqualified after being awarded 10-year prison term in an Arms Act case. The CBI had registered a case against Sahani on Oct. 31, 2013 on a reference by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), which found the allegations prima facie true. Sahani was made a Rajya Sabha member after the death of his father, Mahendra Sahani.

The prosecution had alleged that Sahani forged e-tickets and fake boarding passes to defraud Rajya Sabha of Rs 23.71 lakh as travel and dearness allowance reimbursement without undertaking any journey.
Sahani was Rajya Sabha member from 2010 to 2018 and was in JD-U during the period. The membership of Sahani is likely to be quashed from Sept. 3, the day he was convicted in the LTC scam, after which the number of RJD MLAs in the House will be reduced to 78.

Earlier, Ballabh Prasad, the RJD MLA from Nawada Raj, was externed from Bihar assembly after he was convicted in a minor girl’s rape case. Former RJD minister Illiyas Hussain also had to lose his membership following his conviction in the multi-crore Bitumen scam case. In 2015, BJP MLA Ram Naresh Prasad Yadav was disqualified from the assembly after his conviction in a case related to the attack on Sitamarhi district collectorate.

Case registered in 2013
 The CBI had registered a case against Sahani on Oct. 31, 2013 on a reference by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), which found the allegations prima facie true.