Lawyer Santosh Kumar shout slogans against increase in diesel prices during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's address at International Academic Conference on Economic Growth and Changes of Corporate Environment in Asia, at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi.
A young lawyer today shouted slogans against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
over corruption as he got up to make a speech at a conference here.
As Singh walked up to the rostrum to make his speech, 32-year-old Santosh Kumar
Suman, a member of the Supreme Court Bar Association, stood on the desk, took
off his shirt and shouted, "Prime Minister, go back. Roll back diesel prices."
The incident took place at the high security Vigyan Bhawan where Singh was
attending a 'Conference on Economic Growth in Asia and Changes of Corporate
Environment' which was attended by Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia, Law
Minister Salman Khurshid and a number of legal luminaries from across Asia.
The Prime Minister waited for a while at the rostrum as security officials took
the protestor out of the plenary hall of Vigyan Bhawan.
A senior police official said Suman, who resides in east Delhi's Shakarpur
locality, gained entry to the venue using a "proper" invitation card.
"The Special Protection Group (SPG) handed him over to us. He is under
detention," the official said.
He said the lawyer was likely to be let off after questioning.
The police said that Suman was a member of the Delhi unit of the Rashtriya
Janata Dal (RJD).
Apparently embarrassed by his partyman's actions, RJD chief Lalu Prasad, a
constituent of the ruling UPA coalition, disbanded the Delhi unit of the party.
Prasad's arch-rival and JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav praised the lawyer by terming
his action as 'satyagraha' which gave vent to the angst against the government's
"so-called reform measures".
Emerging story. Watch this space for updates as more details come in
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