Vice President orders CBI action against JD(U) lawmaker in ticket scam

Patna: With the CBI getting a nod to prosecute him in the alleged cheating and corruption in the LTC scam, JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP Anil Sahni on Friday denied the charges and refused to resign.

"It's a conspiracy against me... Why shall I resign on moral ground when I have not done anything wrong," the second term Rajya Sabha member from Nitish Kumar's party said.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari has given his approval to CBI to prosecute JD(U) MP Anil Sahani against whom the agency had filed a chargesheet for alleged cheating and corruption in the LTC scam.

The Bihar MP is reportedly the first from the Upper House who will be prosecuted by CBI after the Chairman's sanction. The MP said he would also talk to lawyers to file a defamation suit.

CBI had filed a chargesheet against Sahani alleging that he, in collusion with other people, used forged e-tickets and fake boarding passes to defraud Rajya Sabha of Rs 23.71 lakh as travel and dearness allowance reimbursement without undertaking the actual journey.

Sahni alleged he fell victim to a "racket" which operated in raising fake bills for LTC for parliamentarians. "Twice, I drew attention of authorities in 2013 about a false bill submitted in my name by racketeers against the LTC allowance," he said, defending himself in the controversy.

"I invite the probe agency to check my bank accounts in Delhi as well as in Patna to ascertain the flow of money for this," he said.

The JD(U) Rajya Sabha member, son of former JD(U) RS MP Madan Sahni, said he would seek time with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is also the JD(U) National President, to discuss the issue.

Asked who was "conspiring" against him and for what reason, the JD(U) MP from Muzaffarpur said he did not know.

"I might be targetted as I come from a poor community and have been raising issues concerning dalits and have-nots," the JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP said.

Besides Sahani, whose term in Rajya Sabha ends in April 2018, others named in the CBI chargesheet are Anup Singh Panwar, an employee of Delhi-based Air Cruise Travels Private Limited, N S Nair, then Office Superintendent (Traffic), Air India and one Arvind Tiwari.

Members of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha get 34 free air tickets in a year for themselves, their family members and associates for domestic travel.