Ranchi, Jan. 15: Hari Kishan Lal, a former member of the legislative council in Bihar and principal of the Chotanagpur Law College, has trained the gun on 12 MLAs and has challenged their membership in the Assembly claiming they hold other ?posts of profit?.

The 12 MLAs, who are in the line of fire, include Neelkanth Singh Munda (Khunti), Ashok Kumar (Mahgama), Loknath Mahto (Barkagaon), Upendra Nath Das (Simaria), Saryu Rai (Jamshedpur), Karia Munda (Khijri), Radha Krishna Kishore (Chhatarpur), Putkar Hembrom (Chaibasa), Joba Manjhi (Manoharpur), Tala Marandi (Borio) and Chandresh Oraon (Bishunpur).

According to Lal, the posts held by the MLAs include those of four parliamentary secretaries (held by Neelkanth Singh Munda, Ashok Kumar, Loknath Mahto, Upendra Nath Das), deputy chairman of Jharkhand State Planning Board (Saryu Rai) and chairman of 20-point programme committee (Karia Munda).

Lal?s ire is also directed at Radha Krishna Kishore, the chairman of Jharkhand State Sports Development Authority, and Putkar Hembrom, Joba Manjhi, Tala Marandi and Chandreshwar Oroan, members of the Tribes Advisory Council (TAC).

Sources said Lal had formally informed the governor about the anomalies last November. ?When the governor did not take any action, Lal, accompanied by a senior Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Shailendra Bhattacharya and a Supreme Court lawyer and chairman of the All-India Congress Committee Legal Cell, S.P. Maheshwari, met him last week and requested him to consult the Election Commission of India,? the sources added.

Shailendra Bhattacharya refused to divulge the details of the meeting. ?It is a legal matter. I will inform you when time comes,? he said.

Loknath Mahto, parliamentary secretary and the best MLA in 2004, told The Telegraph that he was never paid as a parliamentary secretary. Chandresh Oroan, another MLA in Lal?s list said: ?I have never received travelling allowances as a member of the TAC. I do not take any benefits from the post,? he said. The other MLAs could not be contacted.