West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee inaugurated the company's year-long platinum jubilee celebrations on Wednesday.
Says rules will be implemented strictly next time
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Monday said that his intention was 'not to punish anybody per se' while proceeding against 32 opposition Members of Parliament for their disorderly conduct.Chatterjee said that he told the leaders that the MPs could raise any issue they like. "You will embarrass the government, but it is not the duty of the Speaker to extricate the government from any problem or to save the government. Let the govt go if they have no majority," Chatterjee said.
Announcing this, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee thanked the members for their cooperation in passing the Finance Bill 2008, but regretted that 28 hours and 30 minutes were lost due to interruptions and forced adjournments. However, he also noted that the House sat for an extra 36 hours and 38 minutes to compensate for the loss.
The meeting saw Opposition agreeing to undertake orderly behaviour in the House and in turn Chatterjee withdrawing the controversial reference of the MPs, mostly from the BJP- led National Democratic Alliance, to the Committee, sources said. An announcement on the issue is expected when the House reassembles at 14.00 hours. "Wait till two," the Speaker said, when reporters asked him about the outcome of the meeting.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has called for an all-party meeting to resolve the impasse over the privilege notice issue.
"Punishment is not the central theme. There is no pre-conceived idea whether the punishment should be meted out or not," Lok Sabha Privileges Committee Chairman V Kishore Chandra Deo told PTI. Deo said the very fact that Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has referred the issue to the committee rather than taking action on his own showed that he wanted to sort out the matter by going to the root.
Protest in the House that day was prompted by the National Democratic Alliance agitation against price rise, which found its echo in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha after the opposition members formed a human chain outside Parliament complex to denounce the government's failure to check the price spiral.
''I strongly denounce the way you are conducting yourself. It is shameful and disgusting behaviour,'' Chatterjee told BSP member Brajesh Pathak, who continued to agressively counter Union Fertilizer Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, despite repeated requests from the Chair to resume his seat. But Pathak refused to listen to the Chair, prompting Chatterjee to remark: ''Ham yeh hone nahin deyenge... Hamko hataiye yahan se .
A high-level Indian parliamentary delegation, headed by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, arrived in Bahrain on Thursday.
The Enquiry Committee that went into the alleged cash-for-vote scam during the July 22 trust vote would be presenting its report to Lok Sabha on Thursday.
Speaker urges unambiguity in rule-making
"Show respect to each other," was another comment during the pandemonium triggered by an issue raised by Biju Janata Dal member Braj Kishore Tripathi about alleged security rules violation during Congress lawmaker Rahul Gandhi's visit to Orissa last week. The Speaker also made it clear that it was he would 'decide what is relevant and what not'.
The four TRS MPs -- Vinod Kumar, Ravindra Naik and T Madhusudan Reddy -- submitted their resignation to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. The TRS chief had announced on Sunday at a rally in New Delhi that MPs of his party will tender their resignation from the Lok Sabha, as the Congress with whom it fought elections on the issue, had ditched it after coming to power.
"You are working over time to finish off democracy," a visibly angry Speaker Somnath Chatterjee castigated members in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, nearly cried in the Lok Sabha, when Left party leaders Basudev Acharya and Gurudas Das Gupta attacked him by quoting rules for not allowing them to speak after he had rejected the no confidence motion against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The motion was moved by the Left parties after Dr Singh refused to report to the House.
The committee will inquire into cases of misconduct of members of Lok Sabha, including misuse of parliamentary privileges and facilities by them and submit its report within the month.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat have been keeping a low profile, but their interest for the presidential nomination has been debated upon by the media.
The Lok Sabha was adjounred till 1500 hours while the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day.
The suspended Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian was arrested while trying to take a woman to Canada on his wife's passport after allegedly striking a deal of Rs 27 lakh with her through a travel agent.
An all party meeting will be convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee next week to discuss the issue of alleged misconduct of members in the backdrop of the human trafficking case.
Senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra told reporters before the start of an all-party meeting with Speaker Somnath Chatterjee that there should be uniformity while dealing with wrongdoings by MPs.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee will soon decide the fate of the 19 Members of Parliament who defied their party whips during the trust vote on July 22. These MPs can be disqualified under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
The resolution, introduced by Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, said the apex court verdict affects the rights of Parliament.
Mahajan was known for his ability to carry with him friends and opponents alike, the tributes said.
He the government of India should also raise the compensation for the train blast victims in Mumbai to Rs 10 lakh each just as it is doing in the case of victims of the Samjhauta Express.
The National Democratic Alliance and the Left Front have agreed to discuss the Nandigram issue in Parliament. The discussion will be held under rule 193 that does not entail voting.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who was expelled by the Communist Party of India-Marxist for refusing to quit his post despite the party directive, has expressed his desire to quit politics and do charitable work, former CPI-M MP Saifuddin Chowdhury claimed.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Wednesday said that all senior ministers should be present during the debate on the India-United States nuclear agreement in Parliament next week in the absence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who will be on an international visit. Chatterjee played down the Opposition's objection over Singh's visit abroad during the debate on the nuclear deal, saying the Prime Minister cannot avoid traveling as he is required to represent the country.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee may have been expelled by his party, CPI(M), but his tenure as an MP, or for that matter, as the presiding officer of the Lower House remains unaffected, say constitutional and legal experts.
Defending the decision to expel Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee from the party, CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat on Thursday said they did not have any other option but to take disciplinary action against the veteran Marxist as he refused to quit the post after a party directive.
The expulsion of Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee from the Communist Party of India-Marxist for defying the party diktat to step down ends on a bitter note the political journey of a man who was the Marxist outfit's most articulate face with liberal views in Parliament for nearly four decades.
Angered by the charges that it was behind the 'cash for votes' scam, Samajwadi Party on Wednesday said it will be moving a breach of privilege against the three Bharatiya Janata Party MPs who made the charge. SP leader Mohan Singh told reporters that he has informed Speaker Somnath Chatterjee that his party would be giving a privilege notice against the BJP MPs for tarnishing the image of Parliament.
The Lok Sabha was brought to an abrupt halt on Tuesday afternoon when some Bharatiya Janata Party Members of Parliament waved bundles of currency, claiming the Samajwadi Party had tried to bribe them to vote in favour of the United Progressive Alliance government.A political observer, who did not wish to be named, said, "Why do I get the feeling that the BJP is preparing for a walkout. By walking out, the government will sail through the trust vote.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee will quit office on August 12, sources said.
Defying a Communist Party of India directive to quit his post before the trust vote, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Monday chaired an all-party meeting in New Delhi ahead of the special session of the Lok Sabha to decide on the confidence motion.The Speaker had called the meeting of the floor leaders of parties to discuss issues related to the trust vote being sought by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in the wake of the Left withdrawing support to the UPA.
She has also resigned as chairperson of the NAC.
The wife of Rajesh Manjhi, Rashtriya Janata Dal member of Parliament from Gaya, has accused him of extra-marital relations, and has sought an inquiry into it by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.
Chatterjee, who had hit upon the novel method to observe the day, was euphoric over the spontaneous response from members.
Though he admitted that has had problems with the media, the Speaker said that it should continue to expose the goings-on in public affairs at the highest level.
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