NEW DELHI, 26 April 2007 — With its legislator Babubhai Katara behind bars for alleged human trafficking, Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to come under fire during the parliament session resuming today. Katara was arrested at the airport on April 18 while trying to take a woman and her son to Canada on his wife’s and son’s passports.
A decision concerning legislators, accused of human trafficking, will be made at a special meeting to be held next week, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said yesterday. Describing the issue as a serious one, Chatterjee indicated that legislators involved in human trafficking may not be allowed to attend parliamentary proceedings during the budget session.
When asked whether Katara would be allowed, Chatterjee said he was in jail and so would not attend the session. He said it was wrong to say that all deputies were tainted and urged the media to desist from general condemnation of all members.
BJP is in favor of referring the Katara case to the ethics committee of the parliament. Senior BJP leader V.K. Malhotra said neither his party nor the NDA wanted any leniency shown to errant lawmakers. He said all such cases against deputies should be examined by the ethics panel.
Delhi Police claimed yesterday that 12 people may have traveled abroad on diplomatic passports issued to legislators and their family members. “We have been able to collect information about 12 people who might have traveled to the United States and Britain in the past three years,” a senior official said.
Police have issued notices to four legislators following tip-offs by Katara’s associates. Notices have been issued to Bahujan Samaj Party legislators from Uttar Pradesh — Mohammed Tahir Khan (Sultanpur), Mitrasen Yadav (Faizabad) and Ashok Rawat (Misrikh) — and BJP’s Ramswaroop Koli who represents Bayana in Rajasthan.
In another development, three senior police officers arrested in Gujarat on Tuesday appeared in a court in Ahmedabad yesterday. Two more police officials, including M.L. Parmar were arrested yesterday. D.G. Vanzara, Rajkumar Pandyan and M.N. Dinesh were arrested on Tuesday for their alleged role in the killing of a Muslim, Sohrabuddin Sheikh, on Nov. 26, 2005. Sheikh’s wife Kausar Bano has been missing since that date.
