Sanjay Raut 'Chor Mandal' row: NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar backs Sena MP; here's what he said

Mumbai: In a thread of tweets, NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar--backing Shiv Sena [UBT] leader Sanjay Raut--on Thursday, said that the panel that is to probe him does not have a leader from Uddhav-faction of the party and dubbed it unfair,

Raut came under fire on Wednesday for calling the 'Vidhi Mandal [legislative]' a 'chor mandal'. BJP moved a motion of privilege breach against him and demanded his suspension.

No member of Thackeray group on panel, it is unfair: Sharad Pawar

Pawar, coming to Raut's aid, said that during the tenure of Vasantdada Patil, Maharashtra's government was called 'Alibaba-Chalis Choranchi government'.

Sharad Pawar, tweeted, "Legislature in a democratic system is the highest representative body of the people and its dignity must be maintained. There is no reason to disagree. However, regarding the proposed rights violation action against Sanjay Raut, the newly formed rights violation committee was expected to be autonomous and neutral in nature. Also, the formed committee does not include MLAs from the Thackeray group. This is not correct."

The NCP supremo further said that if heard Raut's saying correctly, he was speaking of a particular group and not about the legislative. "This statement is essentially a reaction expressed about a particular group. The meaning of the statement made by Sanjay Raut is clear when read or listened to it together without any interpretation of the statement," he tweeted.

Pawar asks how will justice be ensured with complainants on probe panel

"This kind of criticism is never justifiable to the Legislature. But the matter should be handled with patience," he added.

Raising questions on the committee, he said that the complainants who raised a stink over Raut's comments are also on the panel that will be conducting a probe against him. "If the complainant is appointed as the judge.. then how can justice be expected," he wrote.

"Sanjay Raut is a senior and respected member of the Rajya Sabha, the highest legislature of the country i.e. the Indian Parliament. Before any proposed action against them, the legality and guidelines for taking such action against members of the Indian Parliament should be carefully examined," he said concluding his thread.