AAP MLAs barred from premises of Delhi House

“Today, on February 27, when AAP MLAs were heading to the Delhi Assembly, they were stopped outside the premises by heavy barricading set up by Delhi Police… Preventing elected representatives from reaching the Assembly is a murder of democracy,” Atishi wrote.

“As a result, Opposition MLAs had to sit on protest right there on the streets. This is the first time in the history of the country that the Opposition was not even allowed to enter the Assembly premises. This incident is a dark stain on India’s democratic history,” she wrote.

“If the Opposition is silenced like this, who will raise the concerns of the people? A democracy needs both the government and the Opposition to function so that the voices of the common people are heard. But what is happening right now is an attempt to suppress the Opposition, which in turn is suppressing the voice of the people.”

On Tuesday, 21 AAP MLAs were marshalled out of the Assembly and suspended for three days for disrupting the inaugural speech of Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena to protest the alleged removal of B R Ambedkar’s portrait from the Chief Minister’s Office.

On Thursday, after the suspended AAP MLAs were denied entry into the Assembly complex, the party’s Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan — who was not suspended as he was not present in the House on that, and who was allowed inside on Thursday — requested Speaker Vijender Gupta to allow his party colleagues to at least enter the premises. Gupta, however, cited the House rules.

Denied entry, the AAP MLAs led by Atishi sat at the main entrance gate of the Assembly and raised slogans against the BJP. “The BJP has crossed the limits of dictatorship after coming to power. AAP MLAs were suspended from the House for three days for raising the slogan ‘Jai Bhim’ and today, AAP MLAs are not even allowed to enter the Assembly premises,” she said.

“This has never happened in the history of the Delhi Legislative Assembly… This is completely undemocratic and unconstitutional. Suspension from House proceedings does not mean you can ban the MLAs from entering the premises of the Delhi Legislative Assembly. Even in Parliament, leaders protest inside the premises sitting under the statue of Gandhi ji after suspension from the House,” she said.

Raising the issue in the second half of the Assembly proceedings, Khan said that when the AAP was in power it never barred BJP MLAs from entering the complex even when they climbed on the table and protested.

“In the last 10 years, we have marshalled out MLAs for disrupting the session but this has never happened — MLAs are prevented from even entering the premises. They are sitting outside in the heat,” he said. “We understand you won the elections, but should there be so much enmity towards the Opposition that you bar them from entering the premises altogether?”

Speaker Vijender Gupta clarified, “As per the rulebook, if a member is marshalled out and suspended from the House, it means they are also suspended from the premises. The rulebook states that ‘Assembly’ refers not just to the House, but the entire Vidhan Sabha premises, including the Secretariat and MLA offices. Being suspended from the House means you are suspended from the premises as well.”

According to the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, 1997, “Precincts of the House means the Assembly Hall, lobbies, galleries, rooms in the occupation of the Assembly Secretariat, the Speaker’s room, the Deputy Speaker’s room, the Committee Room, the Assembly Library, the Reading Room, Party rooms, all accommodation in the charge of officers of the Assembly Secretariat and approaches leading thereto, and also such other places as the Speaker may from time to time specify.”

The rules also say that the “members suspended from the service of the House shall stand debarred from entering into the precincts of the House…, but the Speaker may, on a request being made to that effect, allow a suspended member to enter into the precincts of the House for any particular purpose”.

Speaker Gupta also read the rulebook. “We are just following the rules,” he said after the proceedings.