02 March,2009 12:58 PM IST | | PTI
Sacked NCW member Nirmala Venkatesh on Monday defended her controversial report on the Mangalore pub attack, saying she had the power to take suo motu action being a member of the commission.
"So many cases were investigated by one-member committee. I can take suo motu action. I have the quasi-judicial power and can take suo motu action as per the NCW Act," Venkatesh told a press conference here.
She was removed from the NCW on February 27 by the government through a notification in which it said she had conducted herself in a manner unbecoming of her high post.
In her report, Venkatesh had blamed the pub owners for the attack carried out by Sri Ram Sene on young girls.
The Women and Child Development Ministry had then sent a separate team to enquire into the incident. Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhary had defended the step, saying the former had violated her mandate.
"There is a clear mandate given for the NCW and violation of that attracts removal," she had said.
