‘Judiciary interfering in legislative matters’

The clash between the judiciary and the legislature came to the fore in the state assembly on Thursday as the lower house decided not to reply to a notice issued by the Bombay high court to its privilege committee.

The clash between the judiciary and the legislature came to the fore in the state assembly on Thursday as the lower house decided not to reply to a notice issued by the Bombay high court to its privilege committee.

HT Image

Speaker Dilip Walse-Patil tabled a resolution to this effect, which was passed unanimously.

A senior officer from Amravati, Prabhakar Karve, had challenged before the high court a breach of privilege motion moved against him in the state assembly. The speaker had accepted the motion that was moved by Congress MLA Yashomati Thakur and the privilege committee processed it at the earliest. Following this, the high court issued notice to the chief of the privilege committee and its members.

The speaker said the legislature and judiciary were independent institutions and hence the committee did not need to reply to the notice or appear before the court.

Senior legislator Ganpatrao Deshmukh (Peasants and Workers Party) said the judiciary’s interference in the legislative procedures was on the rise. Several other legislators supported his opinion.

The assembly had engaged with the high court a couple of years ago when then state election commissioner Nand Lal had challenged a punishment given by the assembly on the charge of breaching its privilege.