Sting: UP Assembly requests SC to review order

The Uttar Pradesh Assembly today passed a resolution seeking review of a Supreme Court order staying proceedings initiated by the House on a privilege notice against editorial management and journalists of two channels in connection with a sting operation on the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots concerning senior minister Azam Khan.
"The probe committee which found the journalists of TV Today network guilty were asked to appear in the House to put forth their side of the story...With full respect to the Supreme Court, this House resolves that the apex court be requested to review its stay order dated March 4," Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey said reading out the resolution.

The UP assembly committee had probed the sting operation and held several staff members of TV Today group guilty of breach of privilege of Khan, an MLA from Rampur assembly seat.
The resolution said "...It should be corrected, changed or made defunct so that it does not hinder the proceedings of the House in the said issue and further proceedings be continued as per the recommendations of the probe committee.
"The House fully respects the Supreme Court but the stay order on the proceedings of the House issued by it on March 4 does not seem right constitutionally...The work areas of the judiciary and legislature have been defined and there does not appear to be any conflict between them.

"The House cannot be deprived of the constitutional freedom to conduct its proceedings...Putting any kind of check on the sovereignty of the House is not in keeping with the ethos of the Constitution," it said.

The resolution was later adopted by voice vote.
BJP, however, kept itself away from the resolution with its leader Suresh Khanna stressing that his party had not been a part of this process since the setting up of the probe committee and would hence not be a part of the resolution too.
Earlier, the Speaker had convened an all-party meeting to deliberate on the situation arising out of the Supreme Court staying the proceedings in connection with the sting operation.

The House was scheduled to take up the matter of hearing and fixing of punishment on the people involved in the sting on March 4 after the channel had sought more time through a letter on February 25.
Leader of the Opposition and BSP member Swami Prasad Maurya had questioned the apex court action and termed it as interference in functioning of the legislature.