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Patna court orders FIR against RJD, Cong leaders over ‘bribe’
In his petition, Sanjeev alleged that he was promised a Congress ticket from Bhagalpur parliamentary seat on January 15, 2019, by Tejashwi, Misa, Madan Mohan, Congress spokesperson Rajesh Rathore, former speaker Sadanand Singh and his son Subhanand Mukesh
Patna: A Patna court has ordered registration of a first information report (FIR) against six people, including Rashtriya Janata Party (RJD) leaders Tejashwi Yadav and Misa Bharti, and Congress state chief Madan Mohan Jha, for allegedly taking ₹5 crore from a man on the pretext of giving him a party ticket from Bhagalpur constituency during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, people familiar with the developments said.
The Congress had fought the polls in alliance with the RJD and three other regional parties united under the banner of Grand Alliance that year.
Patna chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Vijay Kishore Singh passed the order on Saturday on the basis of a complaint filed by Supreme Court lawyer and Congress leader Sanjeev Kumar Singh on August 10 this year.
In his petition, Sanjeev alleged that he was promised a Congress ticket from Bhagalpur parliamentary seat on January 15, 2019, by Tejashwi, Misa, Madan Mohan, Congress spokesperson Rajesh Rathore, former speaker Sadanand Singh and his son Subhanand Mukesh. He added that he also paid ₹5 crore to Tejashwi and Jha at the RJD office in Patna a few days later.
“When I did not get the ticket and asked them to refund the money, they assured to provide me with one from Gopalpur (Bhagalpur) and my brother from Rupauli (Purnia) constituencies. We did not get any tickets,” the petitioner said.
Sanjeev also accused Misa, Sadanand, Subhanand and Rathore of threatening to kill him and said they eventually refused to return the money on February 10 this year.
The CJM’s order has been sent to Patna’s senior superintendent of police (SSP) to lodge an FIR against the named accused, Sanjeev told reporters on Monday.
Sunil Kumar Singh, station house officer of Kotwali police station, told HT they were yet to receive the court’s order.
RJD MLA Bhai Birendra dismissed all allegations against Tejaswi and Misa. “This is a baseless allegation. Produce proof before levelling such allegations,” he said.
BJP Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi said distributing election tickets in exchange for money was not unusual for the RJD. “Giving tickets in lieu of money and making ministers has been part of the RJD culture. Now Tejashwi is following Lalu Prasad,” he said.
