MP Speaker, Lokayukta on a war path | N.D.Sharma

Published on 03-11-2007 In National

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MP Speaker, Lokayukta on a war path

Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Ishwardas Rohani and Lokayukta Ripusudan Dayal appear determined to slug it out. The latter's reply to the notice has been rejected by the Speaker who has issued another notice to the Lokayukta, as well as to the five officials of the Lokayukta Organisation who had helped him in the preliminary investigation, for alleged breach of privilege of the Assembly. The Lokayukta has challenged the Speaker's action in the Supreme Court. It started with the initiation of action by the Lokayukta Organisation against two Assembly Secretariat officials accused of financial irregularities.

Two former Speakers of the Assembly have jumped into the fray, taking opposite sides. Shreenivas Tiwari, who was the Speaker for two consecutive terms just before the present incumbent, says there is no need for obtaining the Speaker's permission for initiating action against the Assembly Secretariat officials. It is only the Speaker who enjoys the immunity from scrutiny for his actions and not the staff who work under him, according to Tiwari.

Yagya Datt Sharma has, on the other hand, taken the stand that registration of a case against two officials of the Assembly Secretariat and service of notices on them by the Lokayukta amounts to challenging the rights of the Speaker. The Assembly and the staff working there are under the jurisdiction of the Speaker and the Lokayukta has encroached upon the rights of the Speaker by starting action against the officials without the Speaker's permission, asserts Sharma. He was the Speaker in the early eighties when Arjun Singh was the Chief Minister.
While Tiwari has remained in the Congress, Sharma had strayed into the BJP during the BJP regime of Sunderlal Patwa and returned to the Congress when Digvijay Singh had formed the Congress government.

Those holding supremacy of the Speaker rely mainly on Sections 174 and 175 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha. These sections prohibit arrest or service of legal process (civil or criminal) within the precincts of the House without obtaining the permission of the Speaker.
The other side, however, wants these Sections read not in isolation, but in continuation of Sections 171, 172 and 173 which enjoin upon the authorities concerned to immediately inform the Speaker when a member (of the Assembly) is arrested, jailed, released on bail or acquitted. Sections 174 and 175 refer to arrest or service of legal process within the premises of the House on members only, those supporting the Lokayukta's action point out.

The Lokayukta quotes from the "Practice and Procedure of Parliament" (by M.N.Kaul and S.L.Shakdher ) to point out that the privileges of Parliament are granted to members in order that they may be able to perform their duties in Parliament without let or hindrance. "They apply to individual members only insofar as they are necessary in order that the House may freely perform its functions".

Perhaps the strongest weapon in the hands of the Lokayukta is the Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta and Up-Lokayukta Act passed by the Madhya Pradesh Assembly itself. The Act takes out of the purview of the Lokayukta investigation only the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker. The Lokayukta had made it specifically clear in his reply to the Speaker's notice that "neither any complaint was received against the Speaker nor any inquiry was conducted by the Lokayukta Organisation against him nor was he named in the FIR".

The Lokayukta points out in his reply that there is no privilege which prohibits registration of a case by an authority empowered by the legislature to investigate the cases of corruption and bring the offenders to book, simply because the officers happen to belong to the office of the Speaker of the Assembly. The law does not make any differentiation. As such, the initiation of action does not and cannot amount to a breach of privilege of the Assembly, which has itself conferred powers in the form of a statute to eradicate the menace of corruption.

The Lokayukta was approached on December 22 last year by P.N.Tiwari, an advocate, with a complaint, supported by an affidavit and documents, saying that the works were carried out in the New Assembly building by the Capital Project Administration (CPA) in gross violation of rules, without making budgetary provisions and (by) committing financial irregularities. This was all done without the approval of the Finance Department. Not only that, the CPA's proposal for sanction of the budget was turned down by the Finance Department.

The Assembly Secretariat, when asked for comments and the supporting documents by the Lokayukta, tried to pass the buck on to the CPA. Assembly Deputy Secretary G.K.Rajpal wrote to the Department of Housing and Environment (with a copy to the Lokayukta), saying that as the works were carried out by the CPA and its subordinate officers, there was no question of the relevant records being available in the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat. CPA is a wing of the Department of Housing and Environment.

Rajpal's claim was belied by the Department in a communication to the Vidhan Sabha, with a copy to the Lokayukta. The Principal Secretary to the Department stated that the Building Controller Division working under the CPA was transferred to the administrative control of the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat in July 2000 and that the "Vidhan Sabha Secretariat is solely responsible for the construction and maintenance works within the Vidhan Sabha premises".

After procrastinations and prevarications, Assembly Secretary Bhagwan Dev Israni appeared before the Lokayukta on August 24 and stated that the note-sheet relating to administrative approval of the works carried out was in the possession of the Speaker. On the next date, that was September 7, Israni told the Lokayukta that the Speaker had not given the permission to submit the note-sheet to the Lokayukta Organisation.

After perusing with the help of the technical cell whatever information could be collected from the Public Works Department, the Controller, Buildings, Vidhan Sabha and the CPA and in consultations with Legal Adviser Vibhawari Joshi (a member of the Madhya Pradesh Higher Judicial Service on deputation to the Lokayukta Organisation), the Lokayukta directed the Special Police Establishment, the investigation wing of the Lokayukta, to register the FIR.
The case was, accordingly, registered against Bhagwan Dev Israni (Secretary, Vidhan Sabha), A.P.Singh (Deputy Secretary) and some others (not in the Assembly Secretariat) on October 10.

Five days later the Speaker issued notices to the Lokayukta and the five officials alleging a breach of privilege of the Assembly.

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