Privilege motion moved against former MLA, three others

The privilege motion was moved against former member Arunabha Ghosh and three others for comments casting aspersions on the performance and impartiality of Speaker Biman Banerjee in discharge of his duties, during a discussion which was telecast on July 9, 2012.

The motion moved by government chief whip Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay was accepted by the Speaker who said it was moved under rule 226 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

In the motion, Chattopadhyay said the statements of Ghosh contained an insinuation of partiality against the Chair and cast aspersions on the Speaker which constituted a grave breach of privilege of the House.

A copy of the CD containing the recorded discussion was telecast and its transcript was enclosed with the motion.

After taking opinion of all the main political parties on the motion, the Speaker referred it to the Privilege Committee for decision.

The Speaker, meanwhile, wrote a letter to the concerned persons in the media channel and received a reply.