Privilege notices in Parliament against Om Puri, Kiran Bedi

New Delhi, Aug 29 (PTI) Members in both Houses of
Parliament have given Privilege notices against actor Om Puri
and civil rights activist Kiran Bedi for using "derogatory and
defamatory" language against politicians, and the matter is
under consideration of the Chair.
In the Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament), a member
also attacked lawyer activist Prashant Bhushan for reportedly
saying that legislations are passed by Parliament after taking
bribe.
Lok Sabha (lower house) Speaker Meira Kumar on Monday said
in the House that notices for moving a Privilege Motion
against Puri and Bedi for "allegedly" using "derogatory and
defamatory" language against politicians have been received.
Kumar said she had received notices from P L Punia,
Jagadambika Pal, Ramashankar Rajbhar, Lalchand Kataria, Mirza
Aslam Beg, Praveen Aron and Shailendra Kumar.
"The matter is under my consideration," Kumar said.
During Anna Hazare's agitation at Ramlila grounds on the
Lokpal issue, Puri and Bedi had allegedly targeted politicians
and used derogatory and defamatory language against them.
In the Rajya Sabha, Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan told
agitated members that the privilege notices given by Ramgopal
Yadav (SP) and Md Adeeb (Ind) were under consideration of the
Chairman.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Upper House,
Yadav said that the film actor dubbed Parliamentarians as
"thieves" and "incompetent" while speaking from the stage of
Hazare on August 26.
He said such statements by the actor is a privilege of MPs
and requested the Chair to refer his notice to the Privilege
Committee amid thumping of desks by members from all parties.
Puri has, however, regretted making these remarks and said
the choice of words was inappropriate.
The actor said he should have used appropriate language
for description of the political class.
Bedi has also said that her action on Friday mocking the
MPs went against her grain but she did not mean to hurt
anybody.
Md Adeeb said Bedi had attacked the MPs on three
consecutive days from August 24.
He said lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan had told a news
channel that "bills are passed in Parliament by taking bribe."
Kiran Bedi has also ridiculed MPs, he said, adding, "This
is contempt of Parliament."
Khan, who was in the Chair, assured the members that he
would convey the sense of the House to the Chairman.
Taking strong objection to Bedi calling politicians
"illiterate", Yadav said such statements erode the dignity of
Parliament.
"More than 80 per cent members in this House are graduates
and those who are not educated are also more competent than
many educated ones," he said citing examples.
Echoing similar views, Shivanand Tewari (JD-U) reminded
civil rights activists including Bhushan saying that the
person (Anna Hazare) whom they accepted their leader was also
a truck driver.
This only showed that the uneducated have more
understanding than the educated ones. Taking a dig at some
ministers without naming them, he said it were the educated
ones who misled the government on handling of the Lokpal
issue.