Delhi Assembly panel recommends expulsion of BJP MLA OP Sharma

New Delhi: The Ethics Committee of the Delhi Assembly has "unanimously" recommended stripping BJP MLA O P Sharma's off his membership of the House in connection with a case of making derogatory remarks against AAP MLA Alka Lamba five months back and being "unrepentant" about it.

The report of the nine-member committee, tabled in the House on Wednesday, called Sharma a "habitual offender". Sources said he may be given one last opportunity to tender an apology during the discussion on the report which is scheduled for Thursday.

On his part, Sharma trashed the recommendation of the committee describing it as "biased and politically motivated" and accused the ruling AAP of "misusing" its majority.

In November 2015, Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel had suspended Sharma for rest of the Winter Session for using derogatory language against Lamba inside the House. Goel had also referred the matter to the Ethics Committee for further probe.

Last month, Sharma was caught on camera beating a CPI activist at Patiala House court complex when JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar was being produced. Days, later he was arrested for the assault but was released on bail.

"From the proceedings of Nov 25, 2015 it is abundantly clear that Sharma used the words 'raat bhar ghumne wali' in the most derogatory and defamatory sense against Lamba. It amounted to character assassination.

"He has shown neither remorse nor sign of learning from his past mistakes and is a habitual offender. The committee is left with no choice but to recommend expulsion of Om Prakash Sharma from the membership of the sixth legislative assembly of Delhi," the report said.

The section on facts and observations of the report, that was used to arrive at the conclusion by the members, said that Sharma attended five of the 10 sittings of the committee where he remained "consistently defiant and unrepentant".

"Yet the committee tried to reason with him all through with the hope that he would realise his mistake and would express regrets. Unfortunately, he was not amenable to the very thought of being regretful," it said.

It accused the Vishwas Nagar legislator of making "sweeping and unsubstantiated charges" against the speaker, committee on ethics, Chief Minister and secretariat of legislature during the committee's last sitting.