Bhubaneswar: The Ethics committee of Orissa Legislative Assembly will go into alleged sleaze watching by Congress MLA Naba Das during the winter session of state Assembly.
According to sources, the 28-member ethics committee comprising 23 BJD members, four Congress members and one BJP member will meet Tuesday on the Assembly premises and take up ‘Videogate’ issue, sources said. The scheduled meeting has been notified to members of the committee.
BJD chief whip Ananta Das, who is also a member of the committee, said, “The meeting may fix modalities for conducting probe into the matter.”
Notably, MLA Pramila Mallick (BJD) had reported that Das was watching a pornographic video on his mobile in the Assembly. Local electronic media had also telecast the MLA watching a video clip in the House.
Acting on the complaint, Speaker Niranjan Pujari had suspended the Jharsuguda MLA for seven days from attending the House. He also referred the matter to ethics committee of the house for enquiry. However, the Congress and BJP members had protested the Speaker’s decision to suspend Das without conducting an inquiry.
“It is a conspiracy against me and I would explain to the Speaker in this regard,” Das had told reporters and demanded a fair probe into into the issue.
Meantime, MLA Prakash Behera (Cong) said he will raise the issue of suspension of Das before the committee Tuesday.
The ethics committee, headed by Ranendra Pratap Swain, is expected to submit its report to the house during the budget session of the Assembly commencing March 15. PNN
