HYDERABAD: Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu on Wednesday asked the members of the Legislative Assembly to refrain from referring to the judgment given by the Tribunal, constituted under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution, on disqualification petitions filed by BRS MLAs against “defected” legislators.
In view of BRS member KT Rama Rao raising the issue and questioning the Speaker for dismissing the petitions during the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address, Sridhar Babu made a statement in the Assembly. “It will not come under the purview of the House.
The petitions have been disposed by the Tribunal constituted as per the provisions of the Constitution of India. Like any other judicial system, the Tribunal was constituted under the 10th Schedule. It has taken a decision as per the evidence placed before it,” he said.
“The Tribunal also followed natural justice principles and disposed the petitions. In this context, it is not right to cast aspersions on the Speaker. The House should not discuss the judgment given by the Tribunal,” he added, while suggesting that the members not raise the matter in the Assembly.
Reacting to the minister’s statement, Rama Rao said that “in the past, the same Assembly discussed the judgments of high courts and Supreme Court”.
He also said that Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi stated that if any MLA changes party, he or she should be disqualified automatically.
Meanwhile, Government Whip Aadi Srinivas stated that Rama Rao has used “certain unparliamentary” words against the chief minister and urged the Speaker to expunge those comments from the House records
In response, Rama Rao said: “I don’t think that I have used any unparliamentary words. If I had, the Speaker would have noticed and immediately stopped me.”
“The language used by KTR is highly condemnable. Everyone should be conscious of what kind of words they use in the Assembly. Please don’t use unparliamentary words. Whatever unparliamentary words KTR used should be removed from the records,” Sridhar Babu said.
Then the Speaker announced that the unparliamentary words would be removed from the records.
Fun time for legislators
Hyderabad: Politics will take a back seat when the Telangana legislators turn to sports, games and other cultural activities during the ongoing Budget session of the Assembly between March 26 and 30. The Sports Authority of Telangana (SATG) has reportedly planned a host of activities, likely to be hosted from 4 pm onwards, for the MLAs and MLCs.
According to sources, the sports events planned by the SATG include 100 metre sprint and 400 metre walking competitions, team events like badminton, cricket, kabaddi and tug of war. There will also be cultural programmes, including singing, dancing, skits and musical chairs.
Speaking to TNIE, SATG chairperson Shiva Sena Reddy said that such activities were once a regular feature but had been discontinued in recent years. He said six cricket teams have already been formed and that MLAs and MLCs would be personally invited to participate in these competitions.