Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Dec 15: Congress MLA Naba Kishore Das was Tuesday suspended from State Assembly for a week on charge of watching objectionable clips on his cell phone in the house Monday, even as entire opposition staged a walkout urging the speaker to reconsider his order and wait for probe.
Speaker Niranjan Pujari, who first referred the matter to the ethics committee of the house for inquiry, ordered suspension of Das for one week after government chief whip Ananta Das brought a motion which was passed by voice vote.
Raising the issue during zero hour, BJD member Pramila Mallick demanded expulsion of Das from the house. She said the alleged action of the Congress legislator Monday had lowered the dignity of the house.
As soon as the speaker gave the ruling, pandemonium began amid protests from Congress members and the house was adjourned till 12 noon. When the house reassembled, Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra said before taking any action against a member on the basis of allegation levelled by another lawmaker there must be an inquiry and the accused legislator given an opportunity to present his position.Action should be taken only after the member is found guilty after a proper inquiry and not before that, Mishra said adding he, in fact, had Monday asked the party MLA to express regret and seek an impartial probe into the matter.
Stating that the principle of natural justice shows that a person must be heard before he is hanged, Mishra said what has happened in the house was not proper. “Therefore, I request you to reconsider the ruling,” he said.
Endorsing Mishra’s views, senior BJP member K V Singhdeo said the allegation should be investigated first and if found to be true then only action be taken. Describing the suspension of Das as a hurriedly taken decision, Laxman Munda of CPI-M said the ruling should be reconsidered.
Thereafter, the Speaker said the ethics committee of the house would conduct an inquiry and it would give opportunity to the member and hear him. Pujari, however, ignored members’ pleas for reconsidering the ruling on suspension of Das.
Dubbing the decision undemocratic, Naba Das told media he was prepared to request the speaker after zero hour for giving him an opportunity to clarify his stand. “But before that the ruling BJD moved a motion seeking my suspension,” he said. Just because BJD has a majority, it has resorted to dictatorial practice and took action on the basis of simply an allegation, Das added.
