NCP, Maharashtra Cong seek punishment for cartoonist

Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil on Tuesday said a decision on withdrawing charges against cartoonist Aseem Trivedi will be taken only after the investigation was over.

Patil told reporters that he had asked the Mumbai police commissioner to find out what action could be taken against the cartoonist, who was arrested for allegedly objectionable cartoons of the national emblem and the Parliament.

"Action will be taken in accordance with the existing laws. There will be no discrimination," he said.

The home minister also added that it was the investigating agency which had pressed sedition charges against Trivedi, not the state government. The government was not under any pressure and the police too were not putting any pressure on Trivedi to seek bail, Patil said.

Meanwhile, state Congress president Manikrao Thakre said strict punishment should be awarded to Trivedi.

Saying that he did not want to comment on the application of sedition section, Thakre said all existing laws should be examined to book Trivedi.