PUDUCHERRY: Former Puducherry municipal commissioner R Chandrasekaran appeared before the privilege committee of the Assembly on Tuesday to defend himself against charges of contempt of the House.
The committee headed by Deputy Speaker V P Sivakozhundu handed over Chandrasekaran copies of complaints received against him and sought his explanation by April 11. The complaints were made to Speaker V Vaithilingam who forwarded them to the privilege committee.
Chandrasekeran has sought assistance of his lawyer, which would be considered by the committee, said K Lakshminarayanan, a committee member.
It was AIADMK lawmaker A Bhaskar, who complained that the municipal commissioner violated his privilege by holding a meeting in his constituency without inviting him. Speaker ruled in Bhaskar’s favour and ordered Chandrasekaran’s transfer. However, Bedi overturned the ruling and reinstated him. On Monday, Chandrasekaran rejoined duty, which prompted Speaker to issue a summons to him.
On Tuesday, Chandrasekaran arrived at the Legislative Assembly with his lawyer. However, he alone was allowed to appear before the committee which questioned him for more than 30 minutes. He was asked to appear before the panel again on April 6 to defend himself against a privilege issue raised by Bhaskar.
Earlier too the UT had witnessed a privilege case against the then Chief Secretary Rakesh Behari. In 2008, based on a complaint that Behari made derogatory comments against the then council of ministers, MLAs at that time R Viswanathan (CPI), R Siva (DMK) and Government Whip P Angalan (Congress) had petitioned Speaker R Radhakrishnan objecting the remarks. The privilege committee submitted its report to the Speaker after hearing Rakesh Behari. The official was transferred and the issue died down.