Police torture of MLA wasn’t breach of privilege — MP Assembly

BHOPAL, FEB 20: The beating up of BJP MLA, Kunwar Vijay Shah, by police at Khandwa town in Madhya Pradesh on September 27, last year, did ...

BHOPAL, FEB 20: The beating up of BJP MLA, Kunwar Vijay Shah, by police at Khandwa town in Madhya Pradesh on September 27, last year, did not amount to a breach of privilege, according to the Privileges Committee of the State Assembly.

The committee in its report, laid on the table of the house last week, stated clearly that since the incident took place when Shah was not discharging his duties as a legislator but as a politician, the beating did not amount to breach of privilege. The main opposition BJP in the State Assembly had not allowed the house proceedings to take place for a week during the winter session last year demanding that the then Superintendent of Police, R C Patel, be suspended for his alleged involvement in Shah’s beating. Following persistent protests by BJP members, the Assembly Speaker, Sriniwas Tiwari, had referred the issue to the House Privileges Committee.

On the basis of an interim report presented by the committee, the Speaker directed the State Government to suspend R C Patel who was suspended forthwith. The committee had in its interim report recommended Patel’s suspension but left to the State Government the decision on his re-instatement. Patel has since been re-instated on February 4 a day before the current budget session of the State Assembly for the year 2000-01 began. The 10-member Privileges Committee, chaired by Congress MLA and former minister, Prem Narayan Thakur, has recommended that when a legislator takes part in a dharna, demonstration or any other similar movement, a police officer of the rank of the sub-divisional officer (police) or the deputy superintendent of police should be present at the spot to ensure that no insulting behaviour was meted out to the legislator.

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The committee said that based on the evidence presented by the District Collector and the Superintendent of Police, it came to the conclusion that there was a lack of coordination between the administration and the police on the day Shah was beaten up. It pointed out that the absence of a sub-divisional police officer from the spot where Shah was beaten up was a serious lapse and added that the incident could have been averted if only police officials present there had behaved with alacrity. The committee said that apart from orders on how to deal with legislators that were issued by the Centre and the State Government, other strict directives for implementation should also be sent to every district headquarter and made available to collectors and superintendents of police.

It said that it should be the duty of collectors and superintendents of police to hold a meeting of administrative and police officials once at least every six months and ask them to follow orders and directives on dealing with people’s representatives.