NEW DELHI: The Press Club of India today expelled its member Ali Javed, who had booked its conference hall where slogans were raised hailing Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during a function attended by former Delhi University lecturer SAR Geelani.
Geelani was today booked on sedition charges in connection with the December 10 incident. The Press Club of India (PCI) has also constituted a three-member committee to review the booking policy and rules of its hall to ensure that such incident do not happen again.
"Taking exception to the incident that happened on December 10, the Press Club has strongly condemned it and after receiving the reply to the show cause notice from the member Ali Javed, it was decided to expel him from the Club," a statement issued by PCI said.
The PCI also distanced itself from the event on Guru on its premises and clarified that it was in no way responsible for the incident. PCI had yesterday yesterday issued a show-cause notice to the DU Professor, who had booked the conference hall for the event on Wednesday. Javed, however, had distanced himself from the event, saying he does not "approve" of the sloganeering and that in any case he "was not one of the organisers".
The action against Geelani, who was acquitted in the Parliament attack case, comes even as Delhi Police yesterday registered a case of sedition in connection with a Tuesday event at JNU campus here against the hanging of Guru following complaints by BJP MP Maheish Girri and ABVP.