Mumbai: Veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher
denied this evening that he had made derogatory remarks about
the Indian Constitution.
Earlier, a privilege motion was moved against Kher in
this regard in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
But in a statement released late evening, Kher said, "I
am surprised that members of Maharashtra`s Legislative
Assembly have alleged that I had made derogatory comments
about the Constitution on television yesterday.
"It has been alleged that I had stated that the
Constitution should be thrown out. I totally deny having made
such a statement yesterday, or at any time in the past," he
said.
Kher had lent support to Anna Hazare`s hunger strike over
Lokpal Bill, and had visited Jantar Mantar yesterday.
"Such baseless allegations are being spread by
opportunists who do not recognise the importance of the
movement against corruption. Their actions will not deter me
from raising my voice against corruption and for other public
causes," Kher said in the statement.
"These allegations, I understand, have led to the
honourable Speaker of the Assembly, Mr Dilip Walse-Patil,
admitting a breach of Privilege notice against me. I have
checked with the television channel IBN7 a short while ago and
I have it on their authority that I never made such a
comment," he said.
But he added that while he respected the Constitution,
he did not believe it "is cast in stone" and if it "needs to
be revisited to make it more relevant to contemporary needs,
we should do so....We have had over 94 amendments to the
Constitution since it came into effect in 1950, and this
proves my point that the Constitution is not an irrevocable
document."
PTI
