Lucknow, October 2
Amitabh Bachchan's controversial TV advertisement promoting Mulayam Singh Yadav's government during the Uttar Pradesh elections returned to haunt him with a notice being served on the Bollywood star questioning on what basis the claim was made in the jingle.
Bachchan's ad "UP me hai dum, jurm hai yahan kam" (UP has power because of less crime) was aired by news channels before the May assembly elections, attracting criticism from several political parties who had termed it as "false propaganda".
Now, the Information Commission has served a notice, seeking the star's reply on how he concluded that crime was less in the state. The ad in question was aired when Yadav's Samajwadi Party, the arch rival of Chief Minister Mayawati's BSP, was in power.
Chief information commissioner M.A.Khan gave the order on a complaint from one Brijbhushan Dubey of Ghazipur, who sought to know under the Right to Information Act, the basis of his claim and fixed October 15 as the next date of hearing.
The order, however, said that if Bachahan gave his reply to the complainant by a registered mail before October 15, he need not appear before the state information commission.
Dubey, on March 30, had sought to know from the superstar from which central report he claimed that crime was less in UP and to provide a certified copy of the report to him.
After failing to get any reply from Bachchan, Dubey had approached the Commission, which fixed two hearings on the matter but no one appeared from Bachchan's side.
The CIC then served a notice to him, asking him to either reply to the complainant before October 15 or appear before the commission on the next date of hearing.
— PTI
