BJP MLA had committed ‘unruly’ act in the past too: AAP to High Court

The Delhi government on Wednesday alleged in the High Court that BJP MLA O P Sharma, who was suspended from the Assembly for two sessions for allegedly making derogatory remarks against AAP legislator Alka Lamba, has been engaged in “immoral, violent and appalling behaviour” in the past too.

The Delhi government made the allegation before Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva while opposing the maintainability of Sharma’s plea challenging his suspension. “This is not the first instance of unruly and unethical conduct on the part of the petitioner (Sharma). He has been repeatedly engaged in immoral, violent and appalling behaviour in the past. In one such instance, he was penalised by the House on the basis of recommendations of the Ethics Committee for causing damage to the microphones in the House. “An amount of Rs 18,560 was recovered from him towards the cost of the microphone on a motion moved in the Assembly under Rule 107 and adopted on December 3, 2015. He was also warned against resorting to such misconduct in future,” the Delhi government said in its reply filed through advocate Peeyoosh Kalra.

The AAP government’s response came in the backdrop of a court notice issued to it in June this year after the parties failed to settle the matter amicably. Denying the charge, Sharma’s counsel said the decision of the Delhi Assembly to suspend him was “patently illegal” as it infringed upon his freedom of speech privilege.