LTC scam: Hamid Ansari gives approval for prosecution of JD(U) MP Anil Kumar Sahani

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari has accorded sanction to prosecute JD(U) MP from Bihar Anil Kumar Sahani, who was chargesheeted by the CBI in the leave travel concession (LTC) claims scandal exposed by TOI.CBI officials confirmed that they have received prosecution sanction from the Rajya Sabha chairman under Section 197 of CrPC. The Rajya Sabha chairman is the authority to give sanction to prosecute sitting MPs of the upper House.Sources said this is the first time sanction against a sitting Rajya Sabha MP has been given. The CBI had approached the chairman few months ago seeking sanction. The CBI had filed a chargesheet in 2015 against Sahani, an MP from Bihar, and three others in the alleged LTC scam that was exposed in 2013. It was revealed that Sahani and three other accused allegedly used forged e-tickets and fake boarding passes to defraud the Rajya Sabha of Rs 23.71 lakh.Besides Sahani, whose term in Rajya Sabha ends in April 2018, others named in the CBI chargesheet were Anup Singh Panwar, an employee of Delhi-based Air Cruise Travels Private Limited, NS Nair, then Office Superintendent (Traffic), Air India and Arvind Tiwari, a private person.