Privilege notice to Sanjay Raut for calling legislature ‘chor mandal’

He further said, “They took away offices from us, but that does not mean we will leave the party. The party has given us many positions and offices and we will sacrifice them all for the party. We are not goons.”

Narwekar said the inquiry will be completed within two days, after which he will share his decision with the Assembly on March 8. Meanwhile, the Legislative Council was adjourned for the rest of the day after members of the ruling side demanded suo motu breach of privilege motion against Raut, and his arrest, over his remark.

Even as Narwekar issued a breach of privilege notice against him, Raut remained defiant. “If thieves are not called thieves, what are we supposed to call them?” Raut said while speaking to reporters in Kolhapur on Wednesday.

“Forty thieves cannot be called Shiv Sena. And their Alibaba is also not Shiv Sena…The thieves have made state legislature a legislature of thieves. The moment I said this, there was uproar in the state legislature. They stopped the proceedings. They are trying to bring a privilege motion against me. But I will continue to call thieves as thieves,” he added.

Raut, though, said he has respect for the state legislature. “I have respect for state legislature and Parliament…I will reply to the notice issued by the Speaker.”

Amid sloganeering from Shiv Sena and BJP leaders, the Assembly was adjourned four times in the first 90 minutes on Wednesday, which was Day 3 of the Budget session. As the House resumed at 12.30 pm, Narvekar gave his ruling in response to the notice for breach of privilege motion against Raut.

“As per their notice, Raut said via the medium of a TV channel that ‘this is not Vidhan Mandal, it is chor mandal’… my primary opinion is that this is an insult to all the representatives of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, to the heritage and culture of the Assembly. It is an insult to members of the Assembly, to the Constitution of India, and to the people of Maharashtra. This is a serious matter,” Narwekar said.

Expressing the need for a detailed inquiry into the matter, he said, “It is my Constitutional responsibility to protect the rights of Assembly members. After a detailed inquiry within two days, I will give my decision to the Assembly on March 8.”

Following this, Shiv Sena and BJP leaders entered the well of the Assembly and started raising slogans against Raut, demanding his arrest. Narwekar then adjourned the Assembly for the day.

In the Legislative Council, the issue was raised by BJP MLC Pravin Darekar, who, demanded suo motu action against Raut and requested Deputy Speaker Nilam Gorhe to give directives for immediate arrest of Raut. Gorhe said she will take a decision on breach of privilege motion against Raut after checking his remark and verifying it. She, however, said that she will not give any directives on the arrest of Raut as the issue comes under the Home department.

“I will give my decision on the same after ascertaining the merits of the allegations in a day’s time. However, I will not give any directives of arrest since it comes under the purview of the Home department,” said Gorhe.

Speaking in the Upper House, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the statement made by Raut was an insult to the state legislature and it should not be tolerated.

“Calling the entire legislature a house of thieves cannot be tolerated under any circumstances. If we are to tolerate such things, it will be serious. Uddhav Thackeray is also a member of this legislature, so, Sanjay Raut is going to call him a thief too? …. This is not a question of the opposition or ruling party. This is a gross insult to the… House,” said Fadnavis.

Earlier in the day, BJP MLA Atul Bhatkalkar submitted a breach of privilege notice to Narwekar against Raut, as soon as the Assembly started its business of the day. Bhatkalkar demanded that the notice should be sent to the breach of privilege committee on Wednesday itself, a hearing should be held on the same day, and a decision should be taken about the matter before the House resumes its work for the day.

“I have the video clip with me where he (Raut) has spoken to a TV news channel and called the Assembly a ‘house of thieves’, and also called it ‘a house of goons’,” said Bhatkalkar.

A similar demand was raised in the Upper House by Darekar. “Sanjay Raut has called the members of this House as thieves. I request that on behalf of the members of this House a suo motu breach of privilege motion should be filed against him. I demand immediate action. We will not allow the business to take place. This is an insult to the whole legislature. I request the government to take note of it, we need justice. Sanjay Raut should be arrested today itself,” said Darekar.

BJP MLA Ashish Shelar called it “Maharashtra droha” or an anti-Maharashtra act. “Is there a Dawood in this House? The Opposition does not call Dawood a thief but it calls members of this Assembly thieves. This is an insult to Maharashtra, it is an anti-Maharashtra act. This is a place where laws are made to book thieves. The Speaker is a member of this Assembly and all Opposition leaders are also its members. They should take pride in it. I am requesting strict action should be taken against him,” said Shelar.

Leader of the Opposition Ajit Pawar said, “No one has the right to call us thieves. Each MLA represents 5 lakh people of Maharashtra. If this has been said, we must verify the truth of the matter, and then the House can take necessary action against the persons involved.”

Shiv Sena’s Bharat Gogawale also criticised Raut for his speech and used an insulting slur against him. Tensions then flared up, as the opposition demanded that he should take back the word. The protests led to four adjournments in the first 90 minutes, and the Assembly was adjourned for the day at 12.50 pm.

As the House resumed, Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council and Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Ambadas Danve pointed out that before taking any decision on Raut, the context of his speech should be checked and verified.

Opposition leaders, including MLC Anil Parab, also drew the attention of the House over a statement made by Chief Minister Ekanth Shinde, in which Shinde apparently had called opposition MVA party leaders ‘anti-national’ and asked why no action was taken against Shinde

As the opposition started defending Raut, members of the ruling side came into the well and started raising slogans, demanding the Sena (UBT) leader’s arrest. —WITH ENS, PUNE