Thursday, December 22 2005 17:06 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav today (Dec 22, 2005) said he had taken up with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the issue of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan being served Income Tax notice when he was in hospital recently.

"I met Prime Minister somewhere and talked to him. I told him that serving an Income Tax notice to Amitabh Bachchan while in hospital was totally unwarranted. This was totally inhuman", he told reporters here.

Yadav said Amitabh Bachchan has nothing to do with the Samajwadi Party eventhough his wife Jaya Bachchan was elected on an SP ticket to Rajya Sabha.

"But Amitabh Bachchan is not an individual. He is the property of the country being an artiste of international repute. That is why there were prayers for him in temples, mosques and other religious places for his well being", the Chief Minister said.

Media reports today said Bachchan was served a notice asking him to cough up Rs 4.5 crore as Income Tax dues when he was in bed in a Mumbai hospital and he had paid it.

Without naming anybody, Yadav said there were 'mean minded' people who had occupied the top chair and had forgotten humanity.

Asked about Prime Minister's response, the Chief Minister said, "why should I disclose my personal talk with the Prime Minister"?