Governor Arif Muhammad Khan’s meanderings from the government’s policy address will not reflect in Assembly records.
Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan told reporters here on Thursday that past rulings and precedent compelled the House to include only the speech cleared by the Cabinet in its annals.
Mr. Khan, who was at odds with the Assembly for adopting a resolution seeking the repeal of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), had veered off-script at the cusp of reading out the controversial paragraph number 18 on Wednesday.
The passage said the government believed that the citizenship law ran against the underlying principles of the Constitution and the House had adopted a unanimous resolution urging the Centre to repeal the Act.
“The Chief Minister had said in its letter that the paragraph reflected the view of the government. I hold the view that the observation does not come under the definition of policy or programme. I disagree with the portion, but I am going to read it to honour the wish of the CM,” he had said.
Mr. Khan, who held the position that the Assembly had no business to legislate or pass an opinion on a Central law , had earlier counselled the government to omit the portion from the policy statement.
He had also hinted that the Supreme Court heard several appeals against the law and any public debate on the matter was sub judice. However, the Cabinet had stuck to its guns and refused to budge from the original script.
An official said Raj Bhavan was unlikely to insist that the Assembly include his remarks in its records. “The Governor had made his point, and he has laid the issue to rest”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Business Advisory Committee of the House will consider on Friday whether to allow Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala to move a motion seeking to discuss the conduct of Mr. Khan and urge his recall.
Officials felt the government might oppose the move. An early indication of the State’s thinking was perhaps evident in the remarks of Parliamentary Affairs Minister A. K. Balan on Wednesday. Mr. Balan had said the government could not support the Opposition’s bid to precipitate a rift between the Governor and the government. He said the UDF had hoped to create a constitutional crisis and “fish in the muddied waters.”
