DINDIGUL: Refuting allegations that opposition MLAs were denied an opportunity to speak in the Assembly, Speaker JCD Prabhakar on Saturday said slips of paper handed to him during the recently concluded session were not related to deciding who could speak.
Talking to reporters in Dindigul, Prabhakar clarified that he often hands slips to his assistant seeking details from the Assembly archives on specific issues raised during the proceedings.
He said recently, after Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay referred to the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during a session, he sought details of statements on the Act recorded in the early years of the Assembly.
“I handed slips mentioning these details to my assistant, who returned with the information,” he said. Prabhakar said the practice was not intended to deny opposition members an opportunity to speak and that he had received no directive on whom to allow or deny an opportunity to speak.