6 of Lalu Prasad Yadav family face anti-benami law

The Income-Tax Department on Tuesday charged six family members of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Yadav and attached 12 plots, owned by his daughter Misa Bharti, son-in-law Shailesh Kumar, sisters Ragini and Chanda Yadav, Bihar deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and former chief minister and wife Rabri Devi.

All six will be be charged under the new and stringent Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016, in connection with its probe into land deals worth Rs 1,000 crore.

The market value of the attached properties is Rs 175 crore, whereas book value of attached property is just Rs 9.32 crore.

The department has attached about a dozen plots and buildings in Delhi and Bihar including a farm house and land in the Palam Vihar area, a residential building in the upmarket New Friends Colony area of south Delhi, nine plots on a 256.75 decimal land area in Phulwari Sharif area in Patna, where a shopping mall was being constructed, among few others in the same area in Bihar's capital.

A farmhouse in Bijwasan and a bungalow in New Friends Colony have also been attached. According to the I-T Department, all the attached plots are benami properties, the real beneficiaries of which are Lalu's relatives.

A plush farmhouse in Bijwasan, Delhi, is registered under the name of Mishail Packers and Printers Pvt. Limited, but the real beneficiaries are said to be Lalu's daughter Bharti and her husband Kumar.

Beneficiaries of a bungalow, registered in the name of AB Exports Pvt. Ltd, are mentioned as of Tejaswi Yadav and his sisters Chanda Yadav and Ragini Yadav.

Just after the list was made public, Tejaswi Yadav denied any such action by the I-T Department. "This is a political conspiracy to malign my family. I have not received any I-T notice nor am I aware of any seizure by the I-T Department. We have replied each and every question posed to us, and we will continue to stand by the rule of law in future," he said.

The RJD on Tuesday came out in defence of their party chief and his family and said in an official statement, "The reports of concerned agencies issuing show cause notice is being mixed with property seizure reports, as per convenience. Our legal team will put forth our viewpoint on this matter. It is sad that not just the BJP, but even a section of the media is presenting rumours as news."

Citing the example of RJD MP Misa Bharti, the statement said, "The news that Bharti has been fined Rs 10,000 for not appearing before the I-T Department is baseless. We know that being the single largest party in Bihar, others are trying to weaken us. However, the party cannot be frightened by such tactics and will continue to fight for the rights of the weaker sections of the society."

The I-T Department had issued notices to Bharti and her husband Kumar to appear before it, but both failed to do so.

The notice was served a few days after Chartered Accountant Sanjay Agrawal, who also worked for Bharti, was arrested in a money laundering case.

The new Benami Act allows for prosecution of the beneficial owner, the benamidar, the abettor and the inducer to benami transactions, which may result in rigorous imprisonment up to 7 years and fine up to 25 per cent of the fair market value of the property.

(With inputs from PTI)