The Congress government in Puducherry was butchering democracy and civilisation, alleged the BJP-led opposition on Monday as the Speaker of the Assembly V Vaithilingam deployed police force to prevent the entry of three nominated MlAs into the House.
The nominated MlAs V Saminathan, KG Shankar and S Selvaganapathy (all belonging to the BJP) came to the Assembly on Monday morning following the Madras High Court verdict upholding the validity of a notification issued by the Union Government on June 23, 2017 nominating the three as members of the Puducherry Assembly.
But a strong posse of police force had been deployed by Speaker Vaithilingam to prevent them from entering the House. “This is blatant butchering and murder of democracy. A jungle law is in vogue in the Union territory of Puducherry under the command of Chief Minister V Narayanasamy,” said Saminathan.
When the police tried to forcibly remove the MlAs who staged a sit-in in front of the main gate to the assembly, Shankar fell unconscious and was rushed to the nearby government hospital. “Shankar has been admitted to the ICU in an unconscious state and he is under observation,” said a hospital official. Though the Union Home Ministry had nominated the three as per Section 3(3) of the Government of Union Territories Act 1963, Speaker Vaithilingam issued an order on November 12,2017, refusing to accept their nominations. Since the Speaker refused to swear them in as members of the House, Kiran Bedi, the lieutenant governor administered them the oath of office and secrecy. Following the Speaker’s order refusing to accept their nominations, the trio approached the Madras High Court.
A division bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar pronounced last Thursday that ‘no provision of law empowered the Speaker to pass such an order’. Though there was an interim order allowing them to attend the House while their petitions were being heard by the Court, the three MlAs were not allowed to participate in the House proceedings, pointed out Selvaganapathy.
An upset Kiran Bedi told reporters that it was an unfortunate day in the history of the Assembly.
“Who denied them entry to the House and why they were not allowed in spite of a clear court orderIJ We will take action against this step,” said Bedi. N Rangasamy, former chief minister and leader of NR Congress staged a walk out from the House. “The Narayanasamy government has sabotaged Puducherry’s chances of getting development funds from the Centre because of his anti-democratic action.,” said Rangasamy. Vaithilingam disclosed that he would appeal in the Supreme Court challenging the Madras High Court verdict.