Speaker to fix responsibility for screening of Majithia clip

Tuesday, 15/01/2013

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130115/main4.htm

Chandigarh : The Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker is set to examine the issue of live telecast of House proceedings and fix responsibility for screening of the video clip of Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia mouthing expletives in the Assembly during the ongoing Maghi Mela.

The clip shows Majithia hurling expletives at Congress MLA Rana Gurjit Singh during the recently-concluded winter session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and had gone viral on social media though it was expunged from proceedings of the House. Vidhan Sabha Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal said he would find out who was responsible for screening of the clip yesterday. He has also asked the Lok Sabha Secretariat to look into the matter and suggest ways to prevent the electronic spread of expunged remarks.

Atwal said he had visited the Lok Sabha Secretariat in Delhi yesterday and interacted with officials to find out how they had dealt with similar situations. He said he had also sought expert opinion on what could be done to retrieve an expunged remark once it had been aired.

Atwal said he was also examining the entire gamut of live coverage of Assembly proceedings and would take a final decision on the matter after speaking to experts.

The Speaker said he wanted to resolve the issue of suspension of Congress legislator Rana Gurjit Singh and the party’s objections to it and would invite Congress legislature party (CLP) leader Sunil Jakhar for talks.

Atwal said the case against Rana Gurjit was scheduled to be sent to the Privileges Committee, but he wanted to thrash out the matter by calling both parties since both the SAD-BJP and Congress members had moved cross privilege motions.

Reiterating that he was an impartial observer to the incident, the Speaker said he had neither heard Rana Gurjit nor Bikram Majithia hurl expletives at each other. He said treasury benches decided to move a Privilege Motion against Rana Gurjit after the incident.

“Being the Speaker, I have to present the resolution before the House,” he said, asking what wrong he had done in going ahead with his duty. When asked why he did not take suo motu action against Majithia as well after examining the video evidence, Atwal said “he could not do so on his own”.

The Speaker said Congress legislators had tried to defame him despite his above board conduct on the issue. He said CLP leader Sunil Jakhar was invited thrice to his chamber to resolve the issue by several ministers, the Deputy Chief Minister as well as the Chief Minister but he did not respond to the appeals.

Meanwhile, former Lok Sabha secretary general Subhash C Kashyap said allowing live telecast of proceedings had opened both Parliament as well as state assemblies to the risk of breach of privilege of their proceedings. He said once an issue was telecast live and went viral it was difficult to stem it.

Parliament proceedings expert GC Malhotra, also former secretary general of the Lok Sabha, said the moment the Speaker expunged a remark or “erased” it in case of a live telecast, it could not be printed or telecast in any form. He said the Speaker could write to social media sites informing them about his order and even issue notices to them if they did not heed his advice.

Speaker can act against Cong: Expert
Parliament proceedings expert GC Malhotra said the Congress could not exhibit the “erased” clip knowing well that it had been expunged from the proceedings of the House

The moment the Speaker expunged a remark or “erased” it in case of a live telecast, it could not be printed or telecast in any form

The Speaker could write to social media sites informing them about his order and even issue notices to them if they did not heed his advice

He said the Speaker was within his rights to initiate breach of privilege proceedings against those responsible for exhibiting the “erased” clip