Speaker cannot punish lawmakers like a headmaster: Mahajan

A speaker, whether in parliament or state legislative assemblies, cannot act like a school headmaster and routinely administer punishment to errant lawmakers, even if they disrupt proceedings, Los Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said Friday.

Mahajan who was interacting with the media after delivering the concluding address at the 5th India Region Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference here also said that frequent disruptions of legislative proceedings negate the credibility of elected bodies.

"I am not a headmaster or something... and also you will find it doesn't happen that a principal or headmaster always punishes the student. This is not like that," Mahajan said, while decrying the indiscipline by lawmakers in parliament and state legislative assemblies.

She further said that the key to order in legislative assemblies could only be through awareness and orientation programmes.

"After all who do we punish? Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha is not a school or college. They are also people's representatives. They are also elected persons," she said.

Slamming frequent disruptions, Mahajan said: "Frequent disruptions of the proceedings of legislatures tend to negate the very credibility of the representative bodies and elected representatives."