Bihar: BPCL likely to issue show cause notice to Tej Pratap Yadav over illegally acquired petrol pump

Bharat Petrolium Corporation Limited (BPCL) may issue a show cause notice to Lalu Prasad Yadav’s son Tej Pratap Yadav, who also happens to be Bihar’s health minister. The notice is reportedly in connection with a petrol pump, allegedly acquired illegally by the junior Yadav by misrepresenting land ownership deals.

As per reports, the notice is also connected with the allegations made by senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, where he accused Tej Pratap Yadav of illegally acquiring a BPCL petrol pump in Patna in 2011 by furnishing false documents. “At the time he appeared for the interview, he did not have the ownership or lease of the 43 decimal land claimed by him,” Modi said.

In 2011, the land belonged to AK Infosystems Private Limited, and was leased to Lalu’s younger son, Bihar deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav in 2012, Modi said. “In 2014, Tejashwi claimed to be the owner of A K Infosystems. But, at no time was the land leased or registered in either Tej Pratap’s or Tejashwi’s name,” the BJP leader alleged.

Modi further added that the pump was allotted during the UPA regime. “But, how can Tej Pratap be allotted a petrol pump when he had neither land nor the lease of the land in his name?” he said.

Modi also hinted at the involvement of some BPCL officials in “facilitating the deal”, though the RJD had refuted the allegations.  

Sources informed DNA that BPCL’s decision of possibly issuing the show cause follows an internal inquiry conducted on the basis of these charges.

According to BPCL’s dealer selection guidelines, “A person selected for the dealership shall be paying attention towards day to day working of the dealership by personally managing the affairs of the dealership.” This condition would seem tough for the Bihar health minister Tej Pratap Yadav, who is the signatory on the lease agreement.