Black day in state: MLAs thrash cop in assembly

Sub-Inspector Had A Run-In With Legislator

Sharad Vyas, Ambarish Mishra & S Ahmed Ali TNN

Mumbai: The Maharashtra legislative assembly witnessed unprecedented ugly scenes on Tuesday when a group of legislators roughed up a traffic policeman during a breach of privilege hearing, prompting a strong response from the police brass. The situation eased following an apology from the speaker and after the chief minister and the home minister promised action against the offenders.
    A first information report was registered by the Marine Drive police against at least 15 legislators, including Nalasopara MLA Kshitij Thakur and the MNS’s Ram Kadam, whom the injured policeman had named.
    Earlier in the day, over a dozen MLAs led by Thakur and Kadam thrashed sub-inspector of Worli traffic police, Sachin Suryavanshi, in the corridor outside the lower House after a heated hearing on the breach of privilege motion. The policeman was dragged out from the visitors’ gallery where he was seated and kicked and punched till security officials rescued him. He was rushed to hospital. Suryavanshi has suffered blunt trauma in his chest, neck and abdomen, but is stable.
RUNNING RIOT IN THE HOUSE
THE TRIGGER Last week, Nalasopara MLA Kshitij Thakur’s vehicle was stopped at the Worli end of the Bandra Worli Sealink as it clocked over 100kmph
Sub-inspector Sachin Suryavanshi imposed fines on the driver for speeding and for not removing black film from the windows
Thakur apparently abused Suryavanshi, and was brought to the Worli chowky where the matter was sorted out
THE MLAs Police chief Satyapal Singh said Marine Drive police have registered an FIR against 15 MLAs, including Kshitij Thakur (BVA) and Ram Kadam (MNS), whom Suryavanshi has identified
THE FALLOUT On Tuesday, Thakur moved a breach of privilege motion against Suryavanshi. He claimed the cop had refused to give details of the sections imposed on him and later threatened him with ‘dire consequences’
In the House, during an adjournment, a group of MLAs who spotted Suryavanshi in the visitors’ gallery, dragged him out and thrashed him
THE COP
    Sachin Suryavanshi, 31, is from Sangli district and is married
    He had joined the Worli traffic division chowky 20 days ago
    Colleagues described Suryavanshi as a good officer, who always came to work on time and always followed the rule book
IPS officers livid, protest to CM
    Afurious team of senior IPS officers met the CM on Tuesday. “We told them not to take the police force, which is very disciplined, for granted,’’ an IPS officer said. Chavan was initially non-committal, but later promised stern action against the erring MLAs soon. P 6 Cops, MLAs have a running feud
    It was the simmering tension between the police and elected representatives which came to a boil on Tuesday. With as many as five privilege motions already tabled by MLAs against police officers in the ongoing budget session, it is clear resentment runs deep in both sides. P 6 Crime branch to probe attack by MLAs
Speaker Says Sorry, CM Cracks Whip, Parties Wary
    Soon after the shameful incident in the assembly on Tuesday, almost all senior IPS officials protested before the CM, his deputy and the home minister. “We have related the entire incident in detail and have expressed our displeasure to the chief minister and home minister,” said city police commissioner Satyapal Singh.
    The case has been transferred to the Mumbai crime branch and joint CP Himanshu Roy has been asked to head the probe. Sections 353 (assaulting public servant), 506(2) (criminal intimidation), 341 (wrongful restraint), 145 (unlawful assembly) and 146 and 147 (rioting) of the IPC, have been mentioned in the FIR.
    Describing the attack as “reprehensible”, Chavan said: “Differences persist in democracy. But the aggrieved party can’t take the law into its hands… You will know the action taken against the legislators within 24 hours.”
    Sub-inspector Sachin Suryavanshi, who had joined the Worli traffic division recently, was accused of misbehaving with Thakur after stopping the latter’s speeding vehicle on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link last week. Thakur, an MLA from the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA), on Tuesday moved the breach of privilege motion against the cop, narrating the incident and claiming that Suryavanshi had refused to divulge details of sections imposed on his speeding car and later threatened him with “dire consequences”. As the motion was being read out, several MLAs stormed into the well of the House demanding immediate action. The House was adjourned, but the exchange of emotive gestures between the legislators and the cop continued until it reached a flashpoint. Angry MLAs stepped out and beat up the cop in the corridor for almost 10 minutes.
    As tempers flared both among the police and the politicians, speaker Dilip Walse Patil told the House that both the incidents inside and outside the assembly premise were of a serious nature and needed to be probed. “I am disturbed. I seek forgiveness from the people of the state, the police and the MLAs. We are the custodians…,” he said.
    Leader of the opposition Eknath Khadse of the BJP later visited the injured policeman. “If any of my party members are involved in this, I will not allow them to get away with this,” he said.
    MNS legislator and leader of the party in the assembly Bala Nandgaonkar, too, criticized his party members for their role in the assault but stopped short of condemning the episode.
    Suryavanshi was visiting the assembly after he was apparently called by the chairman of the council for a hearing as the matter had rocked the upper House a day earlier. Following the pandemonium, Patil had announced the officer would be sent on forced leave until an inquiry is complete. In this period, Thakur had taken a letter signed by 25 MLAs to the speaker demanding action. “When I bumped into the cop in the assembly corridor, he said ‘do what you and your MLAs have to do against me’,” Thakur told the assembly.
KHADI Vs KHAKI | A LONG-RUNNING FEUD
    Ask any MLA and he will have a story about a cop insulting him at a traffic signal or a parking bay. The police’s account of ‘rude’ politicians is not different either. While it is ‘sheer arrogance’ of the man in uniform for one side, for the other, it is ‘blatant disregard’ for the rule of law.
    “This is not the first time a cop has insulted an MLA on the street. Last time, I was with my family on an outing when a cop shouted at me for parking wrongly. When I told him I am an MLA, he yelled at me more. Since I was with my family, I didn’t have any option but to keep quiet. But if this is the way they behave with an elected representative, you can imagine the fate of a common man,” said BJP MLA Jaykumar Rawal.
    Other MLAs say the cops need to be sensitized on behaving with the elected representatives in public places. Several MLAs shouted slogans against police high-handedness in the assembly as the motion, the sixth against a police officer in this session, was tabled by BVA MLA Kshitij Thakur. BJP MLA Nana Patole said the cops were becoming arrogant as they were shielded by the home minister. — Sharad Vyas KSHITIJ THAKUR An MLA from Nalasopara, the 33-year-old is the son of former Vasai-Virar legislator Hitendra Thakur. The Bahujan Vikas Aghadi MLA married at a mass ceremony in 2012
RAM KADAM The MNS MLA from Ghatkopar (West) was suspended from the Assembly for 4 years in 2009 for slapping Abu Asim Azmi of the Samajwadi Party. The suspension was later revoked. Kadam, 41, is known for his grand Dahi Handi celebrations
MEDICAL REPORT Sub-inspector Sachin Suryavanshi (31) has been admitted to St George Hospital. He has blunt trauma in the chest, neck, abdomen and thighs. His condition is stable
PRIVILEGE AND PROCEDURE BREACH OF PRIVILEGE | An infringement of one of the specific privileges of the House or its Members, which prevents them from carrying out their functions.
    A breach of privilege motion can be moved by any member if she/he feels that her/his rights as a legislator have been violated
THE PROCEDURE | The Speaker sets up the Special Privileges Committee. The aggrieved member then moves a motion under Rule 272 of the Maharashtra Legislative Rules. The speaker/ chairman, if satisfied, forwards the matter to the committee.
    The committee issues a show-cause notice to the other party and holds a hearing. It then details the action to be taken in a report to the House