The expelled AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP, Sasikala Pushpa, on Thursday made an urgent plea in the Delhi High Court to order adequate police protection for her and her family members, saying she is receiving death threats after being “slapped” by a party leader.
“The petitioner faces a grave threat to her life and liberty due to her expulsion from the AIADMK and her refusal to resign from the party. The petitioner has expressed her apprehensions on the floor of the Rajya Sabha and despite that no action has been taken to provide the petitioner with adequate security in view of the threat to her life,” the petition said.
The case is listed for hearing before Justice A.K. Pathak on August 5.
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Ms. Pushpa, represented by advocate D. Abhinav Rao, asked the High Court to intervene and direct the authorities to guarantee her life and liberty as enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution.
“The petitioner is unable to perform her constitutional duty of attending the Rajya Sabha and participating in the monsoon session of the Parliament in view of the clear and present danger to her life,” the petition said.
She said that she had informed the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha on August 1 “that she had been slapped by the leader of the AIADMK party at Chennai and that she faced death threats.”
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She had also written to the Station House Officer, North Avenue, for police protection, but was only spared a constable.
Ms. Pushpa further alleged that the ancestral house of her husband in Uvari village in Tirunelvelli district, Tamil Nadu, was attacked by some unknown persons as she had refused to resign her Rajya Sabha seat.