Thiruvananthapuram : A man was Wednesday arrested and sent to jail for a day for shouting slogans from the visitors’ gallery of the Kerala assembly.
The incident – just the second in the assembly’s history – occurred during question hour.
The man in his early 60s shouted slogans in order to get the attention of the government over the delay in payment of pension to retired employees of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC).
As soon as he started to shout, a security guard tried to take him away.
When the entire house turned to look at what was happening, Deputy Speaker Sakthan Nadar asked TV channels not to air the visuals.
Nadar said this was the first time since 1995 that such a thing happened.
He said it did not augur well and was an infringement of the rights of the assembly, and hence the man has to undergo simple imprisonment till the rising of the house Wednesday.
The assembly has the power to arrest a person.
The man got his entry pass signed by former transport minister Mathew T. Thomas, now an opposition legislator.
Pension payment to former KSRTC employees has been delayed for some time now because of the poor financial status of the state road transport corporation.