Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 22 Leader of the Opposition (LoP), V.D. Satheesan, on Thursday wrote to the Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly demanding that derogatory remarks and allegations made by State Ministers against former Congress president Sonia Gandhi be expunged from the official records of the House.
Describing the remarks as a grave breach of parliamentary propriety, Satheesan said the Ministers’ conduct violated established rules, conventions and rulings governing Assembly proceedings.
In his letter, Satheesan referred to the events during the Sixteenth Session of the Fifteenth Kerala Legislative Assembly on January 22, when Opposition members staged a protest on the floor of the House demanding the resignation of the Devaswom Minister in connection with the Sabarimala gold theft case.
He alleged that during the commotion, three Cabinet Ministers — Local Self-Government, Excise and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M.B. Rajesh, General Education and Labour Minister V. Sivankutty, and Health, Women and Child Development Minister Veena George — made derogatory remarks and levelled allegations against Sonia Gandhi, a former national president of the Indian National Congress.
The Leader of the Opposition pointed out that Rule 285 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Kerala Legislative Assembly clearly bars the raising of defamatory allegations or imputations of wrongdoing against any individual on the floor of the House without prior notice to the Speaker.
He also noted that it is a long-standing convention in the Assembly that such notice must be accompanied by supporting evidence.
Satheesan cited a ruling issued by the Chair on June 28, 1990, which states that allegations raised in the House must be made with utmost responsibility and supported by evidence, and that when allegations concern persons who are not members of the Assembly, more explicit and credible proof is required.
He added that similar rulings issued on August 20, 1971, March 22, 1973, and November 20, 1986, reinforce this principle.
Terming the Ministers’ remarks as baseless and irresponsible, Satheesan said it was particularly objectionable that Sonia Gandhi — who is not a member of the Kerala Assembly and is widely regarded as a national leader with an unblemished political legacy and a life of public service — was sought to be linked to the Sabarimala gold theft without notice or any evidence.
Invoking Rule 307, the Leader of the Opposition urged the Speaker to expunge the remarks from the Assembly records, stop the telecast of the visuals through Assembly TV, and issue strict instructions to Ministers to prevent the recurrence of such rule violations.
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