New Delhi: The Privilege Committee of Parliament on Wednesday served a notice on Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray over his recent article in the party mouthpiece Saamna.
In a signed article, the Shiv Sena patriarch had targetted the MPs from Bihar and UP, saying: "The UP-Bihari MPs have shown their ingratitude towards Mumbai and Maharashtra with an anti-Marathi tirade in Parliament."
Shiv Sena MP Anant Gite confirmed to CNN-IBN that a privilege notice has been served to his leader. "Bal Thackeray has been given a privilege notice for explaining the comments in Saamna," he said.
Launching a tirade against the Biharis, Thackeray had called them an 'unwanted lot' in all parts of the country.
MPs Devendra Yadav and Prabhu Nath Singh, who hail from Bihar, had moved a notice of breach of privilege against Thackeray, accusing him of 'lowering the dignity of MPs as also of Parliament'. Some MPs from UP were also a party to the notice.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee too had expressed concern over Thackeray's remarks and said that the Shiv Sena chief's references amounted to contempt of the House.
In fact, it was the Lok Sabha Speaker who had suggested Yadav to follow the procedure for any action to be taken.
Thackeray now has to appear before the Lok Sabha Privilege Committee, comprising 15 members nominated by the Speaker, to explain why his remarks should not be considered a breach of privilege. If not convinced, the parliamentary panel can impose a punishment on him, which may even include a jail term.
Last year, the Indian Ambassador to US, Ronen Sen, had faced a similar predicament over his 'headless chicken' remark.
Sen later apologised to the panel, saying his comment was not meant to show disrespect to the august House. "I did not mean disrespect to anyone. I make these comments even at home when I have guests over at home and my wife keeps running around,” he said.
The House panel later decided to take a lenient view of the case and accepted Sen's apology. While letting him off the hook, the panel however cautioned the Indian envoy to US for his 'act of indiscretion' in making a remark in which he had allegedly called the critics of the nuclear deal 'headless chicken'.
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