Oppn submits notice against speaker, accuses Om Birla of acting in 'blatantly partisan manner'

Opposition parties on Tuesday submitted a notice for moving a resolution to remove Om Birla from the office of Lok Sabha Speaker, alleging that he had acted in a “blatantly partisan” manner in conducting the business of the House and "abused" the constitutional office he occupies.

The Opposition also accused the Speaker of making certain false allegations against members of the Congress.

Congress’ deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, chief whip K Suresh and whip Mohamed Jawed submitted the notice under Article 94 C of the Constitution to Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh on behalf of several opposition parties, including the Congress, Samajwadi Party and the DMK.

Sources said the notice was signed by around 120 MPs of the Opposition, including those of the Congress, DMK, Samajwadi Party, Left parties and RJD. Shiv Sena UBT and NCP-SP have also signed the notice. The TMC is not a signatory to the notice. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has also not signed the notice, sources said.

“We, the undersigned, hereby give notice of a resolution for the removal of Shri Om Birla from the office of Speaker Lok Sabha, in terms of the provisions of Article 94(c) of the Constitution of India, because of the blatantly partisan manner in which he has been conducting the business of the Lok Sabha,” the notice said, according to sources.

On several occasions, leaders of opposition parties have just not been allowed to speak, which is their basic democratic right in Parliament, the notice said. The notice also cited that on February 2, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to complete his speech on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address. This is not an isolated instance, it claimed, as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha is almost invariably not allowed to speak.

On February 3, eight opposition MPs were “arbitrarily suspended” for the entire Budget session and are being penalised merely for exercising their democratic rights, the notice said.

On February 4, a MP from the BJP was permitted to make wholly objectionable and personalised attacks on two former prime ministers without being reprimanded even once for disregarding established conventions and norms of propriety, it said, in an apparent reference to Nishikant Dubey's remarks. “In spite of our request, no action has been taken against this particular MP, who is a habitual offender,” the notice said.

The notice also referred to Birla's remarks that he had "concrete information" that many Congress members might move towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi's seat and carry out "some unexpected act" as a result of which he had requested him not to come to the House to reply to the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address.

“The aforementioned remarks cast blatantly false allegations against the members of the Indian National Congress and are derogatory in nature. The Speaker, who is required to be the custodian of the Rules of Procedure and the norms of parliamentary decorum, chose the floor of the House to make such statements, which is indicative of an abuse of this constitutional office,” the notice said.

"While we hold the Speaker, Lok Sabha, in personal regard, we are pained and anguished at the manner in which he has consistently prevented opposition members of Parliament from raising issues of legitimate public concern," the notice also said.

The decision to submit the notice was taken by the Opposition at a meeting of floor leaders in the office of Mallikarjun Kharge this morning. Among the main reasons cited by the Congress include disallowing Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders from speaking in the House on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, as well as for the suspension of eight MPs.

Birla directed the Lok Sabha secretary general to examine the notice served by the opposition and take appropriate action, sources said, adding it will be examined and processed as per rules.

The Lok Sabha has not been functioning properly ever since Gandhi was not allowed to speak on February 2.