BJP, Congress united over Supreme Court’s remark on Speaker

NEW DELHI: An issue raised by DMK MP P Wilson on Thursday saw Congress’ Anand Sharma supporting law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Speaking on the issue of time taken by some assembly Speakers to disqualify legislators, Wilson referred to the Manipur case which prompted the Supreme Court recently to direct the assembly Speaker to decide on the disqualification of an MLA in four weeks. Incidentally, DMK had moved a similar plea before the Tamil Nadu Speaker in March 2017 to disqualify 11 AIADMK MLAs for voting against own government during a trust vote. The TN Speaker is yet to decide on the disqualification, with just over a year left for the assembly term to end.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu took note of the point Wilson raised and urged Prasad to take up the issue at the appropriate level. “It is a very important issue. Even the court has commented recently, but everybody is taking time. Presiding officers take time, courts also take time,” Naidu said.

Responding to the Chairman, Prasad, however, focused on the comment the bench made while dealing with the Manipur petition on January 21. “With the greatest respect to the honourable Supreme Court, I must say sweeping comments against the presiding officers were surely avoidable. We need to have respect for all institutions of the country. The presiding officers of the legislatures are equally important functionaries in the constitutional process. I must place it on record,” Prasad said. Sharma, supported Prasad: “I agree with the honourable law minister on this. This is a serious matter. It is a transgression. The Constitution is clear in its scheme of things and the division of powers.”


SC had urged Parliament to set up an independent tribunal to decide disqualification petitions within reasonable time to give teeth to the anti-defection law. A bench led by Justice RF Nariman had said on January 21, “it is time Parliament rethinks on whether disqualification petitions ought to be entrusted to a Speaker as a quasi-judicial authority when such Speaker continues to belong to a particular political party either de jure or de facto.” While Wilson’s submission was about Speaker’s ‘discretionary’ time, leaders of the two main parties responded by reemphasising on domain of the legislature in their response.