Council Chairman bars Paricharak from House until final ruling

Maharashtra Legislative Council chairman Ramraje Nimbalkar today barred independent MLC Prashant Paricharak from attending the House till a resolution moved by a Shiv Sena member seeking his expulsion is decided. Paricharak, a BJP-backed MLC, was suspended from the Council in March last year after he joked about the wives of soldiers during an election campaign. He later apologised, and the government last week revoked the suspension. Council chairman Nimbalkar today asked Parliamentary Affairs Minister Girish Bapat to convey it to Paricharak that he should not attend the proceedings, till Nimbalkar does not give ruling on the second resolution moved by Anil Parab (Shiv Sena). As soon as the House assembled, Parab said after the House last week approved the motion revoking Paricharak's suspension, he (Parab) had moved a second motion seeking dismissal of Paricharak and a case for 'treason' against him. Parab demanded that Paricharak should not be allowed to step into the House till the motion is decided. The Council chairman, citing rules, said a second motion cannot be moved on the same matter within a year of the house voting and adopting the earlier motion. He will give ruling on the second motion as Parab has argued that he had changed the tenor of his motion, Nimbalkar said. Earlier, in the morning, the revocation of Paricharak's suspension led to uproar in the Assembly. The Shiv Sena demanded Paricharak's expulsion from the Legislative Council. Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik sought to know government's stand on the issue. Speaker Haribhau Bagde said Paricharak was not a member of the Lower House, and there was no need to discuss proceedings of the Upper House in the Assembly. But senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan supported the Sena's stand, saying Paricharak's controversial remarks hadn't been made in the Legislature. "There is severe resentment among people about what Paricharak had said.... We want to know the government's stand on the demand to expel him from Council," Chavan said. Jayant Patil of NCP too demanded that the government put forth its stand. Sunil Prabhu of Shiv Sena said his party was firm on its demand that Paricharak be expelled from the Council and a case of treason be filed against him. The Speaker asked Bapatto make a statement.

Bapat said he would do so before the day's proceedings ended. Sena, Congress and NCP MLAs rushed into the well, shouting slogans against Paricharak. The Speaker then adjourned the House for 15 minutes. After the House reassembled, Prabhu reiterated his party's stand. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the Assembly that he was of the view that action should be taken against such wrongand condemnable comments. "The Upper House had unanimously suspended Paricharak and (later) also revoked the suspension. The issue is in the domain of the Legislative Council. The government will make a statement on the issue after the Upper House takes a decision on the resolution to expel Paricharak as its member," he said. Not satisfied, Sena MLAs walked out. State revenue and PWD minister Chandrakant Patil told PTI that Paricharak's suspension for one year was sufficient. "We do not support Paricharak's comments, but we think that one-year suspension is sufficient for a legislature... Hence, the motion was moved to revoke his suspension," Patil told PTI.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)