KALABURAGI: The inquiry ordered by the Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council into the December 15 unruly scenes in the House will only look into the lapses of officials, and not members’ conduct, said Minister for Law & Parliamentary Affairs and Minor Irrigation J C Madhu Swamy here on Tuesday. He was replying to a question on the probe.
A fortnight after the ruckus erupted over a no-trust motion against Council Chairman K Pratap Chandra Shetty, an all-party special committee was formed to look into the incident.On that day, while the BJP members demanded that the chair allow the motion, the Congress members protested. Before the Council Chairman came to the House, the ruling BJP made Deputy Chairman S L Dharme Gowda, a JDS MLC, to sit on the chair. Angered by this, Congress members forcibly removed Dharme Gowda from the seat.
The minister said that whatever had happened that day was unintentional. He said that as the BJP and JDS members thought that Council Chairman Shetty would not chair the proceedings as a notice for the no-trust motion was already served, Dharme Gowda was asked to chair the meeting.Incidentally, Dharme Gowda allegedly committed suicide on a railway track at Gunasagar village, Chikkamagaluru district, on December 28.
When his attention was drawn to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s call for a high-level inquiry into the death, Madhu Swamy said that the Speaker might have felt that the pandemonium in the Council might have driven Dharme Gowda to death.