Number of RJD MLAs reduced to 80 as Bihar assembly notifies disqualification of former minister

PATNA: Total number of RJD members in the Bihar assembly on Tuesday reduced to 80 from 81 after assembly secretariat formally notified the disqualification of former road construction minister Mohammad Ilyas Hussain on the ground of being convicted for two or more years in a criminal case.


A special CBI court at Ranchi had on September 27 convicted Hussain in a bitumen scam case involving defalcation of Rs 18.75 lakh and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for four years.

“Hussain’s disqualification from membership of the assembly will be effective from the date of his conviction e.g. September 27, 2018,” a notification issued on Tuesday by the assembly secretary Bateshwar Nath Pandey said.

Hussain was elected to the Bihar assembly from Dehri constituency in November 2015. It was his sixth term in the assembly. His current term was scheduled to expire in November 2020.

With his disqualification, Hussain became the first person to lose membership of Bihar assembly on the ground of being convicted for two or more years in a criminal case.

In neighbouring Jharkhand, three legislators- two of JMM and one of AJSU Party- have so far lost their membership from the

Jharkhand

assembly after being convicted for more than two years in a criminal case.