Complaint against Sriprakash Jaiswal for sexist remarks

Kanpur  :  A complaint was filed in a court here Wednesday against union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal for his alleged sexist comment on women.

The plea, filed by Anita Dua, a member of a women’s organisation, would come up Thursday in a chief metropolitan magistrate’s court for recording of statements.

Dua accused the minister of immoral behaviour, insulting women and defamation. The offences carry a maximum punishment of two years.

Jaiswal has apologised for his comment made during a poetry meet at K.K. Girls College in Kanpur Sunday night that “once a wife gets old, she loses her charm”. He had likened “the joy of a new victory to a new marriage” and said “as the years go by, the celebrations like in a marriage become old”.

Cornered by reporters, Jaiswal later said that during the poetry meet he was reacting after India’s big World T20 victory over Pakistan.

Appearing for Dua, lawyer A.S. Jaiswal said the comments by the minister had hurt the feelings of women.

National Commission of Women chairperson Mamta Sharma said: “What the coal minister said is very wrong. You cannot compare a woman to a victory. In a marriage as years go by, relations become stronger. He used wrong language for women and he should apologise,” Sharma told IANS.

“We shall be writing to the prime minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the issue,” Sharma said. However, she said the women’s panel would not be issuing a notice to the minister.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said that “since the coal minister has already explained and apologised, the matter should rest there”.

The minister has been in the eye of a storm over the coal blocks allocation which the government auditor has faulted for allegedly causing massive loss to the exchequer.