After being slapped with a FIR for her alleged insulting remarks against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Rabri Devi on Monday faced another complaint of 'scandalising and lowering' the authority of the judiciary.
Nitish Kumar was joined by president of Bihar's ruling Janata Dal - United Sharad Yadav in demanding stern and legal action against the former Bihar chief minister.
The wife of RJD supremo was in the thick of a controversy for letting loose a volley of abuse against both Kumar and state JD-U president Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan and making insinuations against the chief minister's personal life.
In Delhi, the Election Commission sought a report from the Bihar state Election Commission on Rabri's controversial remarks made during a poll rally last Saturday in Chapra, where the Union Railways minister is locked in a direct fight with Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
A petition was filed in the Patna High Court, seeking initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against Rabri Devi, for her alleged remarks against the judiciary. The petition was filed by senior advocate Ashutosh Ranjan Pandey on the grounds that the leader of the opposition had allegedly 'scandalised and lowered' the authority of the judiciary in her speech at the Chapra rally.
An FIR was registered against Rabri Devi at the Bheldi police station in Chapra late last on Sunday night for her remarks against Kumar and Lalan.
"I am also a politician and I want respect and protection of my prestige. Stern legal action must be taken against Rabri Devi for her utterances against us," Kumar told reporters in Patna.
"JD-U and the National Democratic Alliance have taken her rude and insulting remarks seriously and all possible legal actions are being explored to get her prosecuted," he said, adding the law must take its course on the issue.
In his first reaction to his wife's controversial remarks, RJD supremo and Railway minister Lalu Prasad said, "I only know that Nitish Kumar is my younger brother and I have nothing to elaborate on this topic."
"Kumar knows the fact that we have a brotherly bond since a long time," Prasad said when his reaction was sought over the issue. Sharad Yadav said Rabri's uncharitable and abusive remarks reflected that the days of Lalu's rule were 'over'.
"It is quite unbecoming on the part of woman leader, who ruled the state for over seven years, indulging in such remarks against a politician of Nitish's stature," Yadav said. The JD-U has already approached the Election Commission, seeking termination of Rabri's membership from the state assembly, banning her from campaigning for the candidates of the RJD-Lok Janshakti Party combine and debarring her from contesting elections in future.
