After more MPs suspended, Oppn leaders compare Parl with 'North Korean assembly'
New Delhi (PTI): Opposition lawmakers Tuesday hit out at the government after 49 more Lok Sabha members were suspended from the House, calling Parliament a graveyard of the Constitution and comparing it with the North Korean assembly.
The suspension of 49 Lok Sabha MPs came a day after, a total of 78 -- 33 from the Lower House and 45 from the Upper House -- lawmakers were suspended from Parliament for disrupting proceedings.
Reacting strongly to the developments, Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal said, "The graveyard of the constitution is visible here".
"Opposition MPs whose job is to raise questions in Parliament are thrown for doing their job...this is the new India... see it," she said outside Parliament.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said Parliament will soon resemble the North Korean assembly. "We are going to resemble North Korean assembly and only thing missing is synchronised clapping when the PM walks in. This is going to be a token house," he said.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said what is happening is "disgraceful to be very blunt".
"They have no desire to have a democratic system of parliamentary democracy at work. What they are interested in is to have a opposition-mukt Lok Sabha. So, we are seeing a situation where we feel there is no respect for parliamentary democracy," he said.
Manish Tewari, Congress MP, said Parliament has been totally delegitimised. "This is to lay the framework of passing the most draconian law in parliament which will turn this country into a police state," he said.
He was referring to three bills which seeks to replace the three colonial-era criminal laws.
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav who was also present on the Parliament premises said the BJP speaks of the temple of democracy, but with what face will they call it the temple of democracy now when they have expelled the opposition.
"This is their way of imposing their own will. And if they come back next time, then the constitution of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is finished; we and you will not be able to enter through this door," he said.
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I-T Department sends notice to actor-director Prithviraj Sukumaran over co-produced films
New Delhi: The Income Tax (I-T) Department has sent a notice to actor and director Prithviraj Sukumaran asking for more details about the money he earned from some films he co-produced. The notice was reportedly served during the last week of March by the I-T office in Kochi. He has been asked to respond by the end of April.
The department is seeking clarification on the income from a few movies Prithviraj was involved in as a co-producer. This comes at a time when the actor has been receiving criticism from right-wing groups over what seemed to be references to the 2002 Gujarat riots in his latest film L2: Empuraan, starring Mohanlal, which released on March 27.
On April 4, 2025, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out searches at the offices of Gokulam Gopalan, a Kerala-based businessman and one of the producers of L2: Empuraan, along with a few others. These searches were part of an investigation into alleged violations of foreign exchange rules.
The I-T notice to Prithviraj is believed to be linked to an ongoing investigation that began in December 2022 into suspected tax evasion within the Malayalam film industry.
At the time, tax officials had raided the homes and offices of several producers, including Antony Perumbavoor, Anto Joseph, and Listin Stephen, over concerns about unreported income, cash deals, and overseas investments. Prithviraj’s premises were also searched during that operation.
