Chandigarh, September 8
Confrontation looks inevitable when Punjab Vidhan Sabha assembles after a four-day break on Wednesday afternoon to decide action on the House Committee report that has indicted former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and three of his colleagues in Amritsar Improvement Trust land exemption case.
Leaders and legal luminaries of both the ruling SAD-BJP alliance and the Congress have been busy since Friday last in brain storming sessions over their likely strategies to handle ramifications arising of the indictment of Amarinder Singh, Jagjit Singh, late Raghunath Sahai Puri and Jugal Kishore Sharma.
While the treasury benches are pondering over the options they have on the recommendations made in the 84-page report, the opposition may come prepared not only to demand no action or withdrawal of report but also prevent the House from proceeding any further in case the ruling alliance insists on action.
Since the rules of Business of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha are not elaborative on handling such unprecedented situations, both the groups are interpreting directions and rulings of the apex court on similar situations in their own way.
Most significant has been the Supreme Court’s voluminous order in the Raja Ram Pal V/s Speaker Lok Sabha case, wherein, expulsion of some members had been challenged but upheld by the court.
Those owing allegiance to the ruling SAD-BJP alliance maintain that the House can recommend expulsion, suspension or debar an indicted member from attending any further proceedings of the House. They maintain that launching of a criminal case besides legislative action against those indicted also remains a possibility.
They maintain that though the case pertains to an executive order that needs no legislative sanction or approval yet it brings the House to disrepute because of the actions of its members. This is, what they say, makes the House supreme in taking any action it deems fit in such cases, where adequate opportunity has been given to the member concerned to place his view point before the House Committee constituted by a unanimous resolution. The action has to be in consonance with principles of natural justice.
The Congress, however, maintains
that this action of constituting the House Committee and its tabling of report has been a part of planned conspiracy to nail former Chief Minister, two of his ministerial colleagues and a member for an action about which the previous House had already taken a decision.
Going by the report of the last meeting of the Business Advisory Committee, the House on assembling again on Wednesday will have a question hour followed by zero hour and call attention motions before it takes up action on tabling of report by the House Committee headed by chief parliamentary secretary Harish Rai Dhanda.
It also has on its agenda some legislative business, including the Official Language Bill. Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon had also assured Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi of the Congress during the last sitting that sufficient time would be given for discussion on handling situation arising out of devastating floods in the state last month.
Since agenda for the last day looks heavy and the opposition determined not to allow the treasury benches to run through the business, including action on the House Committee report, confrontation on more than one item looks certain.
It will be left to the speaker how he handles attempts to stall proceedings and finish the remaining business either in scheduled time or get the extension of session ratified by the Business Advisory Committee.
The possibility of the speaker convening a meeting of the leaders of all parties before the start of the Wednesday afternoon sitting to seek their cooperation in running the House smoothly also cannot be ruled out.
