NCP suspends Padamsinh Patil

Accused of protecting its Member of Parliament Padamsinh Patil, who has been accused on being involved in a double murder case, the Nationalist Congress Party on Wednesday suspended Padamsinh Patil from its primary membership.

The Disciplinary Action Committee of the party met in New Delhi today and decided to suspend the Lok Sabha member from Osamanabad in Maharashtra from the primary membership, party leader and Union Aviation Minister Praful Patel told a press conference today.

The suspension comes three days after the arrest of Patil by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the murder of Congress leader Pawanraj Nimbalkar and his driver three years ago. There were growing demands from rival political parties that action should be taken against Patil and that the NCP was trying to shield him.

"We are not holding him guilty. But we would like to keep a distance as Patil faces the legal process. If he proves his innocence, we will have no problem in taking him back," Patel said.

The party was only following a convention in public life, that a person who is facing investigations in a criminal case should not be associated with the party, he said.

Replying to criticism that the party should have acted much earlier, Patel said Patil was arrested on Sunday and there was a Parliament session on till Tuesday.

"We did not want to show a knee-jerk reaction towards a senior leader and a MP," he said.