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Haryana Speaker names Abhay without bringing motion for ‘unruly behaviour’
The lone INLD MLA in the Haryana assembly, Abhay Singh Chautala was on Tuesday named by the Speaker Gian Chand Gupta for two days after he entered into an argument with him over the deferral of a calling attention motion
The lone INLD MLA in the Haryana assembly, Abhay Singh Chautala was on Tuesday named by the Speaker Gian Chand Gupta for two days after he entered into an argument with him over the deferral of a calling attention motion. Naming a member as per the Westminster model of the parliamentary procedure means, empowering the speaker to temporarily remove a member of the House for violating the rules of conduct of the assembly or Parliament.
However, Abhay Singh’s temporary removal does not seem to be in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Haryana legislative assembly as a motion (a proposal) to suspend him was not brought in the House. The Speaker, however, did not agree to the contention to bring a motion before the House and told HT that for naming a member, a motion is not required to be brought before the House.
What do the Rules say
As per Rule 104-B, the Speaker can name a member of the House who disregards the authority of the chair or abuses the rules of the House by persistently and wilfully obstructing the business on a motion being made forthwith.
The rule further says that the Speaker shall put the question that the member (naming him) be suspended from the service of the House for a period not exceeding the remainder of the Session.
The former secretary general of Lok Sabha, Subhash Kashyap told HT that a motion needs to be brought in the House if a member is being named or suspended from the House for more than a day.
INLD MLA, Abhay Chautala on being contacted that he will be filing a petition in the Punjab and Haryana high court Wednesday morning challenging the “illegal” decision to name him for two days.
‘Withdrawal of member from House allowed only for a day’
Rule 104-A which deals with the withdrawal of the member from the House for disorderly conduct, however, is applicable for the remainder of the day’s sitting only.
“The Speaker may direct any member whose conduct is, in his opinion, grossly disorderly to withdraw immediately from the House, and any member so ordered to withdraw shall do so forthwith and shall absent himself during the remainder of the day’s sitting,” says Rule 104-A.
This means that for naming and suspending a member for more than a day, the Speaker has to bring a motion in the House.
Parliamentary affairs experts said as per Rule 121 of the Procedure any rule can be suspended in its application to a particular motion before the assembly and if the motion is carried the rule in question shall be suspended for the time being. However, no motion seeking suspension of Rule 104-B was brought in the House.
Box
I have the powers to enforce decisions: Speaker
When asked, Speaker Gian Chand Gupta said that Abhay Singh has been named and not suspended from the sitting of the House for two days and he can come back to the House on February 23.
“For naming a member, a motion is not required to be brought before the House,’’ Gupta said. The Speaker said as per Rule 104, the Speaker shall preserve order and have all powers necessary for the purpose of enforcing his decision on all points of order. “So I have the powers under Rule 104 to enforce my decisions,’’ Gupta said.
