PATNA: The licence granted for a petrol pump owned by RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s elder son and Bihar health minister Tej Pratap Yadav may soon be terminated due to allegations that he provided wrong information about land during allotment in 2012.
The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has issued Tej Pratap a showcause notice, a copy of which is in possession of this newspaper, in connection with alleged irregularities in the process of his acquisition of the petrol pump.
The development follows allegations levelled by Bihar’s former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi recently that Tej Pratap had acquired the petrol pump in violation of rules and through fraudulent means during the UPA tenure at the Centre. The petrol pump is located on the New Bypass Road in Beur locality here.
The nine-point showcause notice, which asks Tej Pratap to submit a written reply in 15 days, is signed by Manish Kumar, BPCL’s territory manager (retail) based in Patna. It was issued on Monday and was delivered to the minister on Wednesday. The notice says it was issued after BPCL authorities got the allegations in a complaint filed by “one Mr Chandrashekhar and others” on April 28.
Tej Pratap can no longer own the pump as, according to the showcause notice, he has taken up other employment, namely a minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet, as it violates Clause 10(t) of the selection guidelines for allotment of petrol pumps, which insist on “personal supervision by dealer”.
It adds, citing the allegations BPCL has received, that Tej Pratap had “falsely declared that you have land for retail outlet whereas the real owner of the said land was M/s AK Infosystems who had never given land on lease to you”.