Petition in Supreme Court wants Murmu invited for new Parliament inauguration

New Parliament building row: Petition comes amid political row over decision to have Prime Minister Modi inaugurate the building instead of President Murmu.

NEW DELHI: A lawyer petitioned the Supreme Court on Thursday to seek directions to the central government to invite President Droupadi Murmu to the inauguration of the new Parliament building on May 28, arguing that keeping her out of Sunday’s event would amount to humiliating the President.

A view of the new Parliament House Building that will be opened on May 28 (HT Photo/Raj K Raj)

The petition was filed by lawyer CR Jaya Sukin on Thursday and is likely to be mentioned before the vacation bench to seek a hearing on Friday.

The petition cited Article 79 of the Constitution which provides there shall be a Parliament which shall consist of the President and the two Houses – Council of States and House of People. “The respondents (Lok Sabha Secretariat and Union government) have violated Article 79,” the lawyer’s plea said.

The plea said the Article makes it amply clear that “the President is an integral part of Parliament” and questioned why the President was kept away from the foundation laying and now the inauguration ceremony.

Stating that President enjoys certain powers and performs a variety of ceremonial functions, the petition said that by not inviting her, “the inauguration of the new Parliament Building is not according (to) law.”

The petition comes against the backdrop of a political row over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to preside over the ceremony instead of President Murmu.

A joint statement by 19 parties, which together control 11 state governments, on Wednesday described PM Modi’s decision to inaugurate the new Parliament as an “assault on democracy” and said that they will boycott the event. By late evening, the total number of political parties that decided against attending the event to open the Parliament building went up to 21.