After OP Sharma's show of defiance, Delhi secretariat recommends his expulsion from Assembly

Even as BJP MLA OP Sharma remains defiant in defence of his assault on a CPI(M) activist outside Patiala House Court, the Delhi secretariat has recommended the expulsion of the leader from the Assembly. This comes a day after Sharma was arrested and subsequently released on bail in the assault case. After his release, Sharma told reporters, “If someone has to pay such a price for stopping a person who raised pro-Pakistan slogans, then I have got nothing to say.” The ethics committee, in a stinging comment, termed Sharma a ‘habitual offender’ and observed that he has refused to apologise for his conduct. [caption id=“attachment_2633462” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  OP Sharma. Image courtesy: IBNLive[/caption] The police had on Wednesday issued summons to him as well as three lawyers in connection with the assault on journalists, JNU students and teachers, and some other persons at the court complex on Monday. The lawyers are yet to depose before police. The Delhi Police had come under severe criticism for not taking action against the legislator despite having clear video footage showing him beating the CPI(M) activist when the court was hearing the JNU case. Tensions have been running high in Delhi since Monday, when protests over the hanging of Afzal Guru saw assaults and accusations of the protesting students at JNU being ‘anti-national.’ Home Minister Rajnath Singh had called for strict action against ‘anti-national’ forces in the context of the JNU controversy. With inputs from PTI