Patna: The LJP on Sunday demanded immediate
removal of Bihar Urban Development minister Prem Kumar from
the ministry as he was declared an absconder by a court 15
years ago and had withheld the information during filing of
nomination for assembly polls.
State unit LJP president Pashupati Kumar Paras told a
press conference here that Kumar was declared an absconder by
the then chief judicial magistrate of a Gaya court, vide an
order dated March 23, 1996 in connection with a case
registered against him at Kotwali police station.
"The minister has not only been absconding from the
clutches of the law in connection with the case lodged against
him, but is also guilty of suppression of the case status in
the affidavit submitted by him at the time of filing
nomination to contest from Gaya town assembly seat last year,"
he said.
The charges against Kumar were grave in nature and he
should be sacked from the ministry by Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar without any further delay, Paras demanded.
A Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) delegation will soon
approach the Election Commission seeking termination of the
minister's membership of the Legislative Assembly, he said.
Kumar was not available for his comments.
Paras claimed that as many as 14 of the 30 ministers
in the NDA government in Bihar were tainted and had criminal
cases lodged against them.
Co-operative Minister Ramadhar Singh had to resign
earlier this month after the opposition RJD had alleged that
the former was declared an absconder by an Aurangabad district
court 16 years ago in a case registered against him in 1992
for making inflammatory and communal speech.
Singh later surrendered before a court in Aurangabad
district and was sent to 14-day judicial custody.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, May 29, 2011, 21:40