Even as the three nominated MLAs of the BJP met Secretary to the Legislative Assembly Vincent Rayar on Wednesday to press for the immediate release of salary and entitlements, Parliamentary Secretary to the Chief Minister K. Lakshminarayanan submitted the government’s objections to any such move pending disposal of the disputed appointment case by the Madras High Court.
The BJP MLAs — V. Saminathan, K.G. Shankar and S. Selvaganapathy — were pressing their case on the strength of a note by M. Kannan, Under Secretary to the Government, on Tuesday asking the Assembly Secretary to immediately take steps to formalise the induction of the three nominated MLAs into the territorial Assembly. The nominated MLAs sought the release of their salary, allowances and other entitlements retrospectively during their meeting.
It may be recalled that the appointment of the MLAs, carried out unilaterally by the Centre without consulting the government, was not accepted by the Assembly Speaker even as Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi completed the swearing-in ceremony on July 4 at the Raj Nivas and has since contended that the induction was in keeping with the statutory and constitutional provisions.
Sources said the MLAs met Mr. Rayar seeking the implementation of the order of the government and made out a strong case that they were duly nominated by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Talking to reporters, Mr. Saminathan, also the BJP’s local unit president, said the government’s stand on the issue would only amount to contempt of court and dishonouring the order of MHA appointing them as MLAs.
“We would wait for a few days before we begin intensified protests as there could be no justification to reject our nominations. The negative stand that the ruling Congress government was taking only showed that the government was preventing the MLAs from discharging their duties,” he said.
However, Mr. Lakshminarayanan, who submitted the Government’s objections to the Assembly Secretary, said any instruction to the Assembly at this juncture was tantamount to sub judice, disrespect of the House and even breach of privilege.
He pointed out that the Under Secretary’s order was “ridiculous” and exposed a complete lack of awareness of the legislative procedures. For instance, as the budget for the MLAD scheme (₹ 1 crore each) had already been passed by the Assembly for the 30 members of the House, how could one, all of a sudden, account for three additional members without getting a proposal in this regard approved in a supplementary or upcoming session of the Assembly, Mr. Lakshminarayanan wondered.
Moreover, the Under Secretary’s note seemed to interpret the non-grant of a stay and interim observations of the High Court as indicative of a yet-to-be pronounced verdict and hence had no legal value, Mr. Lakshminarayanan said.
