Karnataka: Senior ruling Cong MLA walks out from Assembly after argument with Speaker
Belagavi, Dec 5: The Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Tuesday saw a heated exchange of words between a senior member of the ruling Congress and the Speaker over Question Hour proceedings going on for a longer duration than scheduled.
Unhappy with the Question Hour being stretched, Congress MLA Basavaraj Rayareddy said the Speaker should "tear" the rule book if he is not following it. He walked out of the House in a huff after the Chair ticked him off for coming late and asked him not to interrupt the proceedings.
The incident occurred when Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy was replying to a question raised by Congress MLA N A Haris on "Brand Bengaluru", on behalf of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, which saw participation from opposition BJP members.
The discussion on this specific question went on for a slightly longer duration, with BJP and ruling Congress MLAs engaging in arguments on initiatives under 'Brand Bengaluru'.
Opposition legislators such as C N Ashwath Narayan and Satish Reddy alleged that no work has taken place in the city under the current government.
BJP MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal alleged that Bengaluru has become a "Bomb City", citing the recent bomb scare at a large number of schools in and around the city, resulting in chaos. His remarks led to another heated exchange between both sides.
As the discussion and arguments between both sides went on for some time, senior Congress MLA Basavaraj Rayareddy said, "I request you (Speaker), this is Question Hour, not Question Hours....
"There seems to be no law in this House, tear the handbook (on rules) and throw aside (M N) Kaul and (S L ) Shakdher (Compilation on Practice and Procedure of Parliament) ....Honourable Speaker, you are a Speaker, please follow the rules."
Irked by this, Speaker U T Khader told Rayareddy, "You came at 12 (one hour late) and come and preach here, please sit down...."
As the Speaker repeatedly told Rayareddy to sit down, the latter asserted, "I'm also a senior member, I have got my rights... I have respect for the Chair, please listen to me...if you don't have a patience to listen to a member, what can I do?"
Telling Rayareddy that the Chair had heard him and that he was speaking the same things repeatedly unnecessarily and wasting time, Khader asked the senior MLA, "You follow me, please sit down and allow the proceedings to continue."
Agitated as the speaker did not let him speak and asked the minister to continue with his reply, Rayareddy announced that he would walk out of the House if there was no value of his words, and marched out of the House.
He expressed his anger against ministers Priyank Kharge and Dinesh Gundu Rao, who tried to pacify him and referred to his seniority.
As Rayareddy walked out of the House, opposition BJP members asked the Chair and the ruling party to get the senior member back and treat him respectfully, but the Speaker did not relent and continued with the proceedings.
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CJI's advice to aspirant: Join the bar, become a lawyer, don't hanker for judicial services post
New Delhi (PTI): She came to the Supreme Court seeking a re-evaluation of her paper in the examination for joining judicial services as a magistrate. What she got instead was a rejection — and a candid confession by the Chief Justice that he too had wanted to join the judicial services in his youth but was advised by a senior judge to become a lawyer instead.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi on Friday dismissed a plea filed by Prerna Gupta, the judicial services aspirant.
As Gupta pressed her case, the CJI intervened and said, "Let me share my personal story and I hope you will go happily as we cannot allow your petition."
He recounted his time as a final-year law student in 1984 when he wanted to become a judicial officer. As per requirement, he cleared the written test and was set to appear for an interview.
Judicial services is one of the two routes to become a judge after initially joining as a magistrate in lower court and thereafter rising through the ranks to become judge in a high court and possibly the Supreme Court.
The other route is to join the Bar, which means becoming a lawyer, and after building a reputation be picked from the Bar to become a judge at a senior level.
By the time the CJI's exam results came out, he had started practising at the Punjab and Haryana High Court when he was called for the interview.
The senior-most judge on the interview panel happened to be a judge before whom he had recently argued two significant matters.
"One of the matters was Sunita Rani vs Baldev Raj, where he had allowed my appeal in a matrimonial case and set aside the decree of divorce granted by the District Judge on the ground of schizophrenia," he noted.
Before the interview could take place, the judge called the young Surya Kant to his chamber and asked, 'Do you want to become a judicial officer?'
"I said 'yes.' He immediately said, 'Get out from (my) the chamber.'"
The courtroom fell silent as the CJI Justice described his initial heartbreak.
“I came out trembling. All my dreams were shattered. I thought he had snubbed me and that my career was over,” the CJI said.
However, the story took another turn the following day and the judge summoned him again, this time offering a piece of advice that would change the trajectory of his life.
“He said, ‘If you want to become (a judge), you are welcome. But my advice is, don’t become a judicial officer. The Bar is waiting for you,’” Justice Surya Kant recalled.
The CJI said he decided to skip his interview and didn't even tell his parents at first, fearing their disappointment, and instead chose to dedicate himself to his practice as an advocate.
“Now tell me did I make a bad right or bad decision,” the CJI asked and the litigant lawyer left the court with a smile on her face despite her case being dismissed.
Encouraging the petitioner to look toward the future rather than dwelling on the re-evaluation of a single paper, Justice Surya Kant said, "The Bar has much to offer."
