Pilibhit SP ‘misbehaves’ with House chairman, summoned

LUCKNOW: Pilibhit police chief Balendu Bhushan Singh has been summoned to the Vidhan Parishad on Wednesday for showing ‘disrespect’ to Parishad chairman Ramesh Yadav.
In a rare unity among all parties, the members unanimously concurred that the disrespect of Vidhan Parishad chairperson amounts to disrespect of the House and hence the SP needs to be given exemplary punishment for it.
The matter was raised by Samajwadi Party MLC Shatrudra Prakash, who said that Pilibhit superintendent of police had refused to take the chairperson’s calls and later, when he did speak to him, he was extremely rude and dismissive.
Prakash said that on August 21, he had met the chairperson regarding a case registered in Pilibhit on August 17 this year. When Yadav came to know details of the case, he called up the SP around 3pm but was told that the officer had gone with the DM for an inspection. “Thereafter, the chairperson spoke to DM Pilibhit and asked to speak to the SP. But when the phone was given to the SP, he disconnected the call. The chairperson called the SP again at 5pm but the latter refused to talk,” Prakash said.
When the Pilibhit SP finally spoke to Yadav later, he was very rude, Prakash said. “The officer then told the chairperson that he had received calls from many MLAs and MLCs too regarding the same matter, including one from “even Maurya” (deputy CM Maurya),” SP MLC said.
While one BJP MLC called UP police ‘belagaam’ (out of control), another BJP MLC Devendra Pratap Singh said the Pilibhit SP’s statements challenged the entire House.
“An official who has challenged the House should be punished and we should set an example with the punishment that is given to him,” MLC said.
Since chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Leader of the House Dinesh Sharma were not present during the proceedings on Tuesday, cabinet minister Surya Pratap Shahi suggested that the police officer be first questioned by officials concerned before being summoned to the House. However, the proposal was shouted down by a united opposition which went further to demand that Pilibhit police chief be thrown out of the state.