New Delhi: Congress MP Rajani Patil who has been suspended for recording videos of the proceedings in Rajya Sabha for the remainder of the Budget Session on Friday said that handing her such harsh punishment even when she has not done it deliberately was not fair.
Patil also said that she belongs to a freedom fighter's family and should be given natural justice. "I belong to a freedom fighter's family and I should be given natural justice. I have not done anything deliberately," she said. The Congress MP was speaking to reporters.
She further alleged that she was deliberately named and humiliated. "Accusing me like this and straightaway giving me the sternest punishment is not fair. I was deliberately named and I felt humiliated," she added.
Reacting to the development senior BJP leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani said that it will be an utter disregard of gender justice if one uses his or her gender for convenience. She also said that whether it is Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha people elect the MPs to make laws and expect them to abide by them.
"You tell me if a man breaks the rule he should be punished but if a woman breaks the rule, she should be spared. What kind of justice is this? It will be a gross violation of gender justice if anyone uses his or her gender for convenience. Whether it is Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha, people elect us to make laws. They expect us members not to break the law," Irani told reporters.
Arguing that Patil was suspended in a very " humiliating manner" Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan said that if something wrong was done, the matter should be sent to the Committee.
" I think it was done in a very humiliating manner. It shouldn't have happened. If they feel something wrong was done, they should have sent it to Committee. I don't know if they sent it. She (Patil) was not given a chance to clarify," she added.
