UP assembly censures Katju over comments on Gandhi, Bose

The Uttar Pradesh assembly on Friday censured former Supreme Court judge and Press Council of India's ex-chairman, Markandey Katju for his comments on Mahatma Gandhi and Subhas Chandra Bose.

As soon as the house met in the morning on Friday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress legislators raised the issue and called for a censure motion against Katju who had recently referred to the Father of Nation as a British agent. Citing a similar censure by both houses of parliament, they demanded that the state assembly take up the matter on a priority basis.

The legislators also said that any such derogatory comment against Mahatma Gandhi will not be tolerated. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mohammad Azam Khan also shared the opposition benches' feelings on Katju's remarks.

Leader of the BJP legislature party Suresh Khanna then said that he was aligning himself with the feelings of other members as well as that of the minister and called for a unanimous censure motion against Justice katju.

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Dalbeer Singh and Leader of Opposition Swami Prasad Maurya, of the Bahujan Samaj Party, too criticised the comments made by Justice Katju, after which the parliamentary affairs minister moved a censure motion which was passed unanimously.