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Anna aide Bhushan slapped with privilege notice
Prashant Bhushan has been issued a privilege notice for charging Parliamentarians with taking money for making laws.
Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Amid growing suspicion that Team Anna is being targeted by those in power, another member Prashant Bhushan has been issued a privilege notice for charging Parliamentarians with taking money for making laws.
Bhushan has to reply to the notice by September 14, reports said. It is being alleged that Bhushan, while speaking to a TV channel during the Anna agitation at Ramlila Grounds, had said that the MPs charge money for making and passing laws in Parliament.
Reacting to the development, Bhushan said he has been accused of using derogatory words against MPs and has been asked to file a reply. Terming the notice as "totally unjustified", he told a news agency that "speaking the truth in public interest does not amount to breach of privilege".
"If speaking truth in public interest amounts to breach of privilege, then time has come for the country to review the whole notion of Parliamentary privileges," he said.
The move comes after another key associate of Anna Hazare, Kiran Bedi and Bollywood actor Om Puri were issued privilege notice by Parliament for mocking at and passing caustic comments against lawmakers.
The notices were filed in both Houses of Parliament even as Om Puri apologised for calling MPs "anpadh" (uneducated) and "nalayak" (incompetent) at the Ramlila Maidan during Hazare`s fast last week.
Bedi expressed no regrets for poking fun at politicians who she alleged don "several masks" to deceive people.
Team Anna members have been repeatedly targeted by the government. Recently, Arvind Kejriwal and Kumar Vishwas were issued Income Tax notices to repay their dues, the charge which both of them completely refuted.
Kejriwal even claimed that the notice had not been sent by the department but its "political bosses".
Bhushan had also hit out at the government, saying that it should stop its smear campaign against the members of India Against Corruption.
New Delhi: Amid growing suspicion that Team Anna is being targeted by those in power, another member Prashant Bhushan has been issued a privilege notice for charging Parliamentarians with taking money for making laws.
Bhushan has to reply to the notice by September 14, reports said. It is being alleged that Bhushan, while speaking to a TV channel during the Anna agitation at Ramlila Grounds, had said that the MPs charge money for making and passing laws in Parliament.
Reacting to the development, Bhushan said he has been accused of using derogatory words against MPs and has been asked to file a reply. Terming the notice as "totally unjustified", he told a news agency that "speaking the truth in public interest does not amount to breach of privilege".
"If speaking truth in public interest amounts to breach of privilege, then time has come for the country to review the whole notion of Parliamentary privileges," he said.
The move comes after another key associate of Anna Hazare, Kiran Bedi and Bollywood actor Om Puri were issued privilege notice by Parliament for mocking at and passing caustic comments against lawmakers.
The notices were filed in both Houses of Parliament even as Om Puri apologised for calling MPs "anpadh" (uneducated) and "nalayak" (incompetent) at the Ramlila Maidan during Hazare`s fast last week.
Bedi expressed no regrets for poking fun at politicians who she alleged don "several masks" to deceive people.
Team Anna members have been repeatedly targeted by the government. Recently, Arvind Kejriwal and Kumar Vishwas were issued Income Tax notices to repay their dues, the charge which both of them completely refuted.
Kejriwal even claimed that the notice had not been sent by the department but its "political bosses".
Bhushan had also hit out at the government, saying that it should stop its smear campaign against the members of India Against Corruption.