NCW condemns Somnath Bharti statement on Delhi Women's Commission

The National Commission for Women (NCW) Saturday condemned Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti's statement that the Delhi Women's Commission's move against him was politically motivated.

Condemning the minister's statement, NCW member Nirmala Samant Prabhawalkar said: "It is his political fight, he cannot drag the commission (into this) for political motives."

The member added that it was inappropriate for the Delhi law minister to challenge a constitutionally appointed body.

Bharti, who courted controversy over his action against an alleged sex-and-drugs ring in south Delhi, Saturday said that the DCW's move against him was "politically motivated".

Meanwhile, DCW chief Barkha Singh Saturday said there was no politics involved in the move against Bharti. "It is a routine probe," she said, adding: "The kind of blame he is putting on the women's commission shows that he knows he is guilty."

The Delhi law minister had sent a lawyer to represent him before the Delhi Women's Commission, which had issued summons to him on complaints from five Ugandan women of harassment at the hands of a mob led by the minister. The complaints concerned the midnight raid Jan 15 led by Bharti in connection with complaints of a drug-and-prostitution racket in Khirki Extension of south Delhi.

The minister was summoned Friday. The Delhi Commission of Women refused to allow his lawyer to represent Bharti, saying the commission's rules did not allow this.