Opposition notice to remove Speaker ends stalemate in Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha resumed Budget discussions after Opposition parties submitted a notice seeking Speaker Om Birla's removal, ending a week-long standoff over alleged denial of debate rights

After Opposition parties on Tuesday afternoon submitted a notice to bring a resolution for the removal of Speaker Om Birla, the weeklong impasse in the Lok Sabha ended, with the House taking up the discussion on the Budget at 2 pm.

 

The deadlock had started on February 2 during the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address, with the Opposition accusing the government and the Chair of not allowing Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi to speak.

 

This had led to the suspension of eight Opposition MPs for the remainder of the Budget session and the unprecedented development of Prime Minister Narendra Modi staying away from the House and not replying to the debate on the President’s address on February 4 evening.

 

 

Sources said Speaker Birla would not preside over Lok Sabha proceedings until the issue pertaining to his removal from office is settled. Article 96 of the Constitution bars the Speaker or Deputy Speaker from presiding over a sitting of the House while a resolution for removal from office is under consideration. Birla has a constitutional right to defend himself in the House if the resolution is discussed in the Lok Sabha.

 

The Speaker has directed Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh to examine the Opposition’s notice, which has been signed by nearly 120 MPs. MPs from the Congress, Samajwadi Party, and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam have signed the notice, but not those from the Trinamool Congress.

 

Previous attempts to remove the Speaker have been unsuccessful. The Speaker can be removed from office by a resolution passed by the House through a simple majority. Article 94(c) of the Constitution provides for such a move.

 

According to former Lok Sabha Secretary General P D T Achary, the notice is examined at the preliminary stage to determine whether it contains “specific charges”, as only then can the Speaker respond. Article 96 gives the Speaker the opportunity to defend himself or herself in the House. If the notice is accepted, the Speaker asks members in favour of the resolution to stand up. At least 50 members must do so for the Speaker to grant permission for the resolution to be taken up for discussion and disposed of within 10 days.

 

The Opposition’s notice stated that Gandhi was not allowed to complete his speech on February 2, “which was not an isolated instance”. On February 3, eight Opposition MPs were “arbitrarily suspended” for the entire Budget session and were being penalised merely for exercising their democratic rights, the notice said. It added that on February 4, a BJP MP 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, in an apparent reference to remarks by Nishikant Dubey.

Penguin clarifies, Rahul rebuts

In the context of former Army chief M M Naravane’s memoirs, Penguin Random House India (PRHI) on Tuesday clarified that an announcement about a book or its availability for pre-order should not be interpreted as publication.

 

The publisher’s clarification came after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi cited a 2023 social media post by Naravane informing people that the memoir in question, Four Stars of Destiny, was “available now”.

 

Speaking to reporters in the Parliament House complex, Gandhi read out Naravane’s 2023 post on X. “The point I am making is either Mr Naravane is lying, and I believe the (former) Army chief, I don’t think he will lie, or Penguin is lying. Both cannot be telling the truth,” Gandhi said, adding that the book is available on Amazon.

 

The Delhi Police has registered an FIR over the alleged illegal circulation of the manuscript in digital and other formats.