Resolution seeking Speaker Birla's removal follows rules, debate must take place: Congress
New Delhi (PTI): With the Lok Sabha likely to take up next week a notice seeking Speaker Om Birla's removal from office, the Congress on Friday said the resolution follows the rules and conventions, with opposition MPs having cited specific instances of “partisan behaviour” by the speaker, which call for a debate.
As Parliament meets for the second phase of the Budget session on March 9, the Lok Sabha is likely to take up the notice to move a resolution to remove Birla from office for allegedly acting in a “blatantly partisan” manner.
Speaking with PTI, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, said, “All the opposition parties other than the Trinamool Congress have signed the motion for the removal of the speaker. Let us see. They have said it's going to be taken up on March 9.”
He added that 118 opposition MPs belonging to all political parties, barring the Trinamool, signed the notice.
“It’s a healthy, democratic practice. We have submitted a motion, which is according to the rules, according to the conventions… There have been previous occasions, for example, in 1954, when the combined opposition strength was hardly 50, and the Congress had 364 MPs in a House of 489. A no-confidence motion was brought against the speaker, the great G V Mavalankar," Ramesh said.
“These are democratic instruments, instruments of parliamentary democracy. The opposition has every right. We'll have a debate, let's see what happens after that," the Congress leader said.
“We had given specific instances of partisan behaviour (by the speaker), while false allegations were levelled against the opposition members. We have given the context, and a debate should take place,” Ramesh said.
The Congress has issued a whip for its MPs, mandating them to be present in the Lok Sabha from March 9 to 11, when the notice seeking Birla's removal is likely to be taken up.
The Lok Sabha will witness a rare moment, most likely next Monday, when Birla will not chair the proceedings but will be seated among the members as the House takes up the notice seeking his removal from office.
According to the rules and laid down procedures, Birla will have the right to defend himself when the resolution is discussed by the Lower House.
He will also have the right to vote against the resolution, Constitution expert P D T Achary said.
He said that while Birla will not chair the proceedings when the resolution comes up before the House, he will be seated in the prominent rows in the Treasury benches.
In fact, Birla had stopped chairing the House the day the notice was submitted, taking a stand.
At least 118 opposition members had submitted the notice to move a resolution to remove Birla from office for not allowing Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders to speak in the House on the motion of thanks to the president's address, as well as for suspending eight opposition MPs.
Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, chief whip K Suresh and whip Mohammed Javed submitted the notice to the Lok Sabha Secretariat on behalf of several opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the DMK. Trinamool MPs, however, did not sign the notice.
Article 96 of the Constitution bars a speaker or a deputy speaker from presiding over the House while a resolution for his removal from office is under consideration.
The speaker has a constitutional right to defend himself if the resolution is discussed in the Lok Sabha.
At least two Lok Sabha members have to sign the notice to move a resolution for the speaker's removal. Any number of members can sign the notice, but a minimum of two is mandatory.
The speaker can be removed from office if a resolution is passed by the House by a simple majority. Article 94C of the Constitution has provisions for such a move.
Article 96 allows the speaker to defend himself or herself in the House.
The language of the proposed resolution is usually examined by the deputy speaker, but since the present Lok Sabha does not have a deputy speaker, it may be examined by the senior-most member of the panel of chairpersons.
The panel helps to run the House in the speaker’s absence.
The opposition resolution has alleged that Speaker Birla acted in a "blatantly partisan" manner in conducting the business of the House and "abused" the constitutional office he occupies.
Three Lok Sabha speakers – G V Mavlankar (1954), Hukam Singh (1966) and Balram Jakhar (1987) – faced no-confidence motions in the past, which were all negatived.
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Nashik court sends ‘godman’ Kharat to 3-day police custody in 7th sexual exploitation case
Nashik (PTI): A court in Maharashtra's Nashik has remanded self-styled astrologer-cum-godman Ashok Kharat to police custody till April 29 in the seventh case of sexual exploitation registered against him.
Kharat, a former Merchant Navy officer arrested on March 18, is accused of sexually exploiting several women and indulging in large-scale financial fraud by claiming to have divine powers and knowledge of black magic.
In the seventh case, Kharat sexually exploited a married woman who had approached him in search of solutions to her family problems.
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The accused allegedly gave the woman something to drink, sexually assaulted her while her husband sat outside his office and threatened to kill her if she told anyone about it.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing into 12 cases of sexual exploitation and financial fraud registered against Kharat in Nashik and Ahilyanagar districts, on Sunday filed a request application in the court demanding his custody in the seventh case.
Kharat was produced in court for a virtual hearing in the seventh case on Monday.
The prosecution demanded six-day police custody for Kharat, citing the discovery of a locker in Kharat's house during the investigation, from which the police recovered two blank cheques and other documents, all of which have to be probed.
The court agreed to the prosecution's demand and remanded Kharat to three-day police custody till April 29 in the case.
Kharat has been at the centre of a political firestorm, as he was well-connected, and photographs of him with political leaders and other important members of society have been surfacing in mainstream and social media since his arrest.
