BENGALURU: The rising number of Covid-19 cases could force the Karnataka government to postpone the legislature session to a later date, as permitted by law. Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri told TNIE that it is wait-and-watch for now. “We will see what decision Parliament takes, and whether other states conduct assembly sessions. In Karnataka, the government is yet to take a call on holding the session which will depend on the situation,’’ he said.
State Secretariat sources said holding a session in the current environment was not advisable because despite implementing health measures, the virus is spreading, as the staff and followers of MLAs, MLCs and ministers visit Vidhana Soudha. “We can take health measures, but cannot avoid physical closeness. It’s like a bomb ticking,” an official said.
Law Minister J C Madhuswamy pointed to Article 174(1) of the Constitution, which mandates that there should not be a gap of more than six months between sessions. “The Governor shall from time to time summon the House, or each House of Legislature of the State to meet at such time and place as it thinks fit, but six months shall not intervene between its last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session,” the Article reads.
Both Houses last met in March, during the Budget session, which had to be cut short due to the pandemic. The government has time till September for the next session, he said. “If the situation still looks alarming in September, we will hold a session for a day or two, and adjourn so that we get six months’ time to hold the next session,’’ he said.
Several senior elected representatives are of the opinion that holding the monsoon session is not desirable. Former Legislative Council chairman and senior BJP leader D H Shankaramurthy said the monsoon session is usually called in the month of June. Although politicians cutting across party lines were behaving responsibly, he was not in favour of holding the session. Former Speaker and senior Congress leader K R Ramesh Kumar, too, said it was not advisable for the houses to meet when the situation was worsening.