Another RJD MLA loses assembly membership after conviction in corruption case

The state is now heading for bypolls on two seats, one of which (Mokama) fell vacant after RJD’s Anand Singh lost his membership in July this year in an Arms Act case, and Kudhni

Another legislator from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) – Anil Kumar Sahni, former Rajya Sabha member and sitting MLA from Kudhni in Muzaffarpur – lost his membership in the Bihar assembly after being convicted in a corruption case.

For representational purposes only. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A notification to this effect was issued by the Bihar Vidhan Sabha secretary Pawan Kumar Pandey late on Thursday evening. He is the fourth RJD legislator to have lost the assembly membership following conviction in a criminal or corruption case in the last four years.

The state is now heading for bypolls on two seats, one of which (Mokama) fell vacant after RJD’s Anand Singh lost his membership in July this year in an Arms Act case, and Kudhni.

Last month, Sahni, along with two others, were sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment in the leave travel concession (LTC) scam case, which was investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Sahani was also sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of one year for the commission of the offence punishable under section 201 of the Indian Penal Code, one year for the commission of the offence punishable U/S 420 r/w 511 IPC, three years for commission of the offence punishable U/S 471 IPC and one year for the commission of the offence punishable U/S 15 r/w 13 (1) (d) r/w 13 (2) of the PC Act. The court also imposed different amounts of fine on all the convictions.

CBI found that Sahni and others allegedly used forged e-tickets and fake boarding passes to defraud Rajya Sabha to the tune of ₹23.71 lakh as travel and dearness allowance reimbursement.

CBI had registered the case in 2013 after it was referred by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).

Other RJD legislators whose membership was terminated earlier following their conviction included Raj Ballabh Yadav and Illiyas Hussain. Both lost their membership in 2018. Yadav was convicted in a rape case, while Hussain was convicted in a multi-crore bitumen scam.