Assembly Speaker Niranjan Pujari on Thursday stated that the Advocate General (AG) is of the view that the chit fund issue is sub-judice and, therefore, it cannot be debated in the House.
The Speaker, who said that the Advocate General’s opinion is “justified”, also ruled that no member can raise the chit fund issue in the House in any manner, not even while participating in the discussions on the Supplementary Budget.
“Question pertaining to chit fund issue, which is the subject matter of adjudication before the designated courts and a subject matter of investigation by CBI as well as inquiry under the commission set up under Commission of Inquiry Act, should not be allowed to be raised in the Assembly,” Pujari said quoting Advocate General Surya Prasad Mishra.
The Speaker had sought Advocate General Satya Prasad Mishra’s advice on November 25 on the ground that the chit fund scam is now sub-judice.
The Advocate General’s view and the Speaker’s ruling came in for severe criticism from the Opposition Congress and BJP, which have been demanding a debate on the mega chit fund in the Assembly.
leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra (Congress), who challenged the Speaker’s ruling, told reporters outside the Assembly that the Advocate General does not have the “minimum knowledge of law”, for which he should resign forthwith.
“How can he (AG) decide what the members will discuss in demand discussion,” Mishra asked.
Mishra also questioned the Speaker’s ruling against MlAs’ referring to the chit fund scam in any manner in the House.
BJP State president and MlA KV Singh Deo said the Speaker’s ruling would only help the BJD Government, which is afraid of debating the chit fund issue in the Assembly as it would further expose the ruling party leaders’ complicity with the scam.
8th day: ‘Cheat’ issue not debated, Assembly stalled
After a brief period of normalcy on Thursday afternoon, during which the Supplementary Demands of the Agriculture and SC& ST Development Departments were passed, the State Assembly again witnessed pandemonium on Friday morning.
As soon as the Question Hour began, Congress Chief Whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati wanted to know from the Speaker what decision he has taken on leader of Opposition’s proposal to reconsider his ruling that the Advocate General would be consulted before allowing a debate on the chit fund scam in the House on the ground that the issue is “sub-judice”.
Hardly had Bahinipati raised his point when ruling BJD members rushed to the Well of the House and started shouting slogans.
The House ran for just a minute before it was adjourned till 3 pm. Both Congress and BJP members protested from their seats holding banners demanding a debate on the chit fund issue. Congress members also had black bands on their mouths as a mark of protest.
leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra told reporters outside the Assembly, “The Opposition wants the House to run and all matters concerning the State be debated.
That’s the reason we agreed to participate in the Supplementary Demand debate yesterday. We had only one condition that the Speaker should reconsider his ruling and the Speaker had announced that he would. As the House reassembled for the day today, the Congress wanted to know what decision he has taken, after which BJD members rushed to the Well shouting slogans.”
Mishra said the House cannot run in a one-sided manner as the ruling party desires. The Speaker has to take a decision as he had assured the House to do so on Thursday.
BJP legislature Party leader Basant Panda said, “They (ruling party) do not want to debate issues concerning the State. leader of Opposition had yesterday requested the Speaker to reconsider his decision to seek the Advocate General’s advice on the matter, to which the Speaker had agreed.”
BJD spokesperson and MlA Amar Satpathy said, “The ruling party has no hesitation on holding debates on any issue in the House. But there should be normalcy and right atmosphere in the House for holding debates. As you might have seen, as soon as the House reassembled today, Congress and BJP members showed placards and banners from their seats. The House is not one-side business and ruling party members protested against this showing of banners and shouted slogans. It’s every side’s responsibility to run the House peacefully.”
On his part, Speaker Niranjan Pujari laid the blame squarely on the members. “It all depends on the members. I have repeatedly appealed to them to restore normalcy in the House, but to no avail,” he said.
In the afternoon, the House discussed and passed the Supplementary Budget demand for the Home Department.