SP seeks halt on revival of cases against Phoolan Devi

A demand was made in the Lok Sabha that all cases against Samajwadi Party member Phoolan Devi be withdrawn. Phoolan Devi herself was sitting in protest outside the House after cases against her were revived in Uttar Pradesh.

Raising the matter during zero hour, Dr Shafiqur Rahman (SP) said the cases against the former dacoit were withdrawn when Mulayam Singh was chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. That these cases had been revived by the current Mayawati government was deplorable, he said.

But Pramod Mahajan (Bharatiya Janata Party) and Ilias Azmi (Bahujan Samaj Party) said the court had refused to accept the withdrawal of cases and, therefore, the state was not responsible for the revival of cases.

Mulayam Singh Yadav -- now India's defence minister -- said though his government had withdrawn cases against Phoolan Devi, it was up to the current government to defend such actions and plead the case before the court, he said, adding that, instead, the state was trying to implicate the former bandit.

Speaker Purno A Sangma put an end to the controversy, saying the home minister, who was present in the House, had taken note of the matter.