It’s the discretion of the Speaker, says Rajendra Trivedi
In a move triggering outrage from the Opposition Congress, Gujarat Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi has barred legislators from asking more than three “unstarred” questions in a week.
The order, which was issued on March 28, also states that an MLA cannot ask an “unstarred” question when the Assembly is in session and the three “unstarred” questions have to be submitted when the Assembly is not in session.
As per the Assembly rules, “starred” questions come up for discussion during Question Hour, while the “unstarred” questions get tabled in the House. Unlike “starred” questions, no discussion takes place on “unstarred” questions.
The Congress termed the Speaker’s decision as “an attempt to stifle the voice of the Opposition”.
“This move is an attack on the rights of the MLAs to raise people’s issues. Till now, there was a limit of three ‘starred’ questions in a week. But, there was no such limit in asking number of unstarred questions. The rule has been announced without consulting us and we are going to protest it,” said Congress MLA and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in Assembly, Shailesh Parmar.
“In a ‘starred’ question, there is a limitation that we cannot ask about issues related to more than two districts. Also, we cannot ask questions for a time period beyond two years. Against that, an MLA could ask a state-wide question (covering all the districts) with a time period of five years in an ‘unstarred’ question. So, obviously we could get maximum information through ‘unstarred’ questions on issues concerning people. This latest order has curtailed that limit to only three ‘unstarred’ questions in a week,” Parmar added.
“It is the fundamental right of an MLA to seek answers from the government by asking questions. I feel this decision is an attempt to curtail that right. I urge the Speaker to reconsider his decision,” said Parmar.
Defending the decision, Speaker Trivedi said that the order was passed by his predecessor Ramanlal Vora and it has been announced now as per the procedure of the Assembly. “It (the issue of limiting number of questions) is a matter of the Speaker’s discretion and there is nothing wrong in it,” Trivedi told The Indian Express.
When contacted, former Speaker Ramanlal Vora said, “Whatever is done at Assembly, it is being done as per the rules.” He, however, refused to say anything more on the latest order, saying it was not proper for him to comment “when some other person is the Speaker”.
Assembly Secretary D M Patel maintained that Speaker’s order doesn’t curtail MLAs’ rights.
“Normally, party offices submit questions in bulk in the name of few MLAs. In some cases as many as 1,500 ‘unstarred’ questions are submitted by single MLA. Other MLAs are deprived of the chance to ask ‘unstarred’ questions. To give chance to other MLAs, the Speaker has taken this decision. There is no limit to number of questions that can be submitted otherwise. The only thing is, they (questions) have to be distributed equally among MLAs. There is absolutely no restriction on submitting questions,” PTI quoted Patel as saying. With PTI Inputs