Yogendra Yadav calls 'biased' disciplinary action a joke

NEW DELHI: A day after Aam Aadmi Party sent show-cause notices to its four rebel members-Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha-Yadav called the disciplinary process a "joke".

The news of the show-cause notice, Yadav said on Saturday morning, was given out by a "party leader (Delhi convener Ashutosh) who was not a member of the disciplinary committee". He added, "The joke is...the show-cause notice charges me with leaking sensitive information to the media."

Saying that this is not the only joke about the disciplinary process, Yadav said: "The committee that has served the notice and will decide the matter includes Pankaj Gupta who had signed a written public statement accusing Prashant Bhushan and me of anti-party activities, the charge he is going to investigate now! The committee also includes Ashish Khetan who had last month made derogatory remarks against Bhushan and his family and was the key source of 'evidence' of Bhushan's anti-party activities during Delhi elections. He has liberally cursed both of us on TV. Ever heard of complainants and witnesses themselves becoming judges?"

In the evening, Kumar and Jha went to Bhushan's house to discuss the way forward. Kumar said he would meet Delhi volunteers on Sunday afternoon to know their opinion on the matter.

Yadav has already registered his protest with the chairman of the disciplinary committee Dinesh Waghela who has said he would give his observation after the four submit their response.

Yadav said that he had received his notice at 11.45pm on Saturday, which said that the national disciplinary committee has received a complaint against them, reviewed it and found its charges prima facie correct. "I have been given till 6pm on Sunday to respond to this lengthy complaint," he said.

Yadav claims Waghela told him on Thursday that he was not in Delhi and had no idea about any show-cause notice that was to be sent to them. "He couldn't have dashed down from Goa for the committee meeting, received the complaints and come to a conclusion within the last 12 hours, I thought...I was wrong. By 8pm (on Friday) media told us that the notice has finally been issued and was being hand-delivered. Who is keeping the media informed at every stage, I wonder," Yadav said.

"Will they recuse themselves now and review the show-cause notice? Will the committee look into its own leaks before it sits down to examine someone else's? Or will the joke continue? Or should I call it a farce?" he said.