118 Opposition MPs submit notice; TMC not a signatory, wanted to give Speaker more time to address concerns

On Birla’s decision not to chair the proceedings until a decision on the notice is taken, a source close to the Speaker said, “He is taking a high moral ground on this.”

Under Article 94C of the Constitution, a Lok Sabha MP may submit a written notice of intention to move a resolution for the removal of the Speaker to the Secretary General with at least 14 days’ notice. With the House in recess after February 13, “the matter is expected to be taken up on March 9 when the House resumes,” an official in the Speaker’s office said. A Lok Sabha secretariat official said the Opposition’s notice would be “examined and proceeded as per rules”.

The Speaker’s decision came hours after the deadlock in Lok Sabha appeared to be over, with Congress MP Shashi Tharoor starting the discussion on the Union Budget when the House reconvened at 2 pm.

Earlier in the day, Opposition leaders decided to submit the notice, but held off on escalating the situation as a group led by Congress’s K C Venugopal went to the Speaker’s chamber to find a way out and reiterate their demands. But there was no breakthrough at the meeting, where the treasury benches were represented by MoS Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal.

With no resolution in sight, the Opposition MPs submitted the notice at 1.14 pm, said Gaurav Gogoi, Congress Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha.

While most Opposition parties were on board, the Trinamool Congress did not sign the notice, with its Parliamentary Party leader Abhishek Banerjee saying the party “believes in being more tolerant” and does not want to “flex muscles” through the notice. Sources said the TMC told the others at the morning meeting that Birla should be given more time to address their concerns.

What Opposition notice says

The Opposition notice makes three major points.

First, it says that on February 2, the Leader of Opposition was not allowed to complete his speech on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address. “This is not an isolated instance. The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha is almost invariably not allowed to speak,” it states. The notice also points out that on February 3, eight Opposition MPs were “arbitrarily suspended for the entire Budget session and are being penalised merely for exercising their democratic rights.”

Second, referring to BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s remarks, the notice says that on February 4, the BJP MP was permitted to make “wholly objectionable and personalised attacks on two former Prime Ministers without being reprimanded even once for disregarding established conventions and norms of propriety”. And that “no action has been taken against this particular Member of Parliament, who is a habitual offender”, the notice states.

Third, the notice mentions the Speaker’s decision to advise Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to attend the Lok Sabha last week to give his customary speech on the Motion of Thanks amid the Opposition’s protests. Birla said he had “credible information that several members from the Congress” would create “an unprecedented incident after reaching the Honourable Prime Minister’s seat”, and that is why he had requested the PM not to come to the House. The notice says Birla “cast blatantly false allegations against” Congress MPs and that they “are derogatory in nature.”

“The Speaker, who is required to be custodian of the Rules of Procedures and the norms of parliamentary decorum, chose the floor of the House to make such statements, which is indicative of an abuse of this constitutional office,” it states.

The Speaker, meanwhile, received the support of 11 women MPs from the BJP who wrote to him objecting to an earlier letter sent by women MPs of the Congress.

“The Opposition has placed its faith in constitutional propriety. While holding the Honourable Speaker in personal regard, we are pained and anguished by the consistent denial of opportunities to Opposition MPs to raise issues of public importance. After many years, a no-confidence notice against the Speaker has been moved, an extraordinary step born out of extraordinary circumstances,” Congress whip Manickam Tagore said.

With the Congress-led Opposition submitting the notice against the Speaker and several leaders in the group saying they wanted a discussion to take place, the House returned to the Union Budget discussion. While the Congress’s Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor opened the discussion, Rahul Gandhi is expected to participate in the debate Wednesday.