Speaker slams legislative members’ behaviour

Speaker G. Karthikeyan has criticised the tendency of some Assembly members to make public statements that can bring disgrace to the House.

In a ruling on Wednesday, the Speaker noted that the decision he had taken on Tuesday to suspend the day’s question hour and zero hour and take up the financial business of the government was not something that had no precedence, as was being projected by some of the MLAs and a section of the media. He gave a list of several such precedents in the legislative Assembly.

The Speaker had the responsibility to ensure the conduct of government business in the Assembly even when the members would not cooperate, he said.

Rule 314 of the rules relating to the conduct of the Assembly gave the Speaker the authority to do so.

‘Misleading impressions’

“With respect to the decision taken yesterday [Tuesday], it is not desirable for the members to make statements raising questions about the impartiality of the Speaker and causing misleading impressions about the legislative Assembly and its dignity. It is not right to make the Speaker a party in any conflict between the Treasury Bench and the Opposition. The chair can function only according to the rules and precedents,” Mr. Karthikeyan said.

He said the person now sitting in the Speaker’s chair did have politics before he assumed the position.

He would be a man of politics after stepping down from the position too.

However, while in the Speaker’s chair, he had acted only with total impartiality, Mr. Karthikeyan said.