LUCKNOW: An Uttar Pradesh Minister, who announced a reward of Rs.51 crore for beheading a Danish cartoonist for his portrayal of Prophet Mohammad, is in trouble as the Assembly Speaker is understood to have held that his utterance amounted to incitement to murder and was violative of the law.

Haji Yaqoob Qureshi, Minister for Haj, could face the axe after Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey's ruling likely to be made in the next session, highly-placed Assembly sources said.

They said after Speaker's ruling on the floor of the Vidhan Sabha, decks would be cleared for prosecution of Mr. Qureshi. The Speaker is understood to have come to the conclusion that Mr. Qureshi's utterance amounted to incitement to murder and was violative of the Constitution, the sources said.

The matter was raised in the House during its recent session by senior BJP member Luxmi Kant Bajpai who had demanded Minister's dismissal for issuing a fatwa (religious decree) against the Danish cartoonist who had caricatured Prophet Mohammad. The Speaker, after hearing Mr. Bajpai, had reserved his ruling on the matter.

The Minister, in his clarification, said he had made the announcement at a function in Meerut as an individual and not in his capacity as a Minister.

When contacted, Mr. Pandey said he would announce his decision in the House at its next session.

Mr. Qureshi, currently in Mecca on Haj pilgrimage, said he would not backtrack from his statement irrespective of its consequences.- PTI

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