Kerala: Opposition holds session outside assembly

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The opposition UDF on Thursday boycotted the assembly proceedings and conducted a mock session outside the assembly complex in protest against the denial of permission for discussion on a Customs notice with remarks against chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and former speaker P Sreeramakrishnan. Speaker M B Rajesh denied permission for the adjournment motion citing that the matter is sub judice.
P T Thomas MLA had served the notice seeking leave for an adjournment motion to be answered by the chief minister, but the speaker ruled that it is a sub-judicial matter which cannot be discussed in the House as per the legislative assembly’s rules. Law minister P Rajeeve said as per rule 52 (7) of assembly rules, any matter which is under the consideration of the trial court, or any other court, cannot be discussed in the house.
Customs notice issued based on Swapna’s statement
Opposition leader V D Satheesan cited several instances in the past when the house discussed subjects pending in the court. These included using vigilance against political rivals (on December 11, 2012), the high court criticising advocate general’s office (July 24, 2015), palmolein case (February 24, 2016), self-financing issue (August 22, 2017), the Sabarimala verdict (November 28, 2018) and the Kodakara pipe money case (July 26, 2021).
“Discussing the matter on the floor of the assembly is an opportunity for the chief minister to claim his innocence,” he said. Rajeeve said rules cannot be overcome by precedence, to which the opposition leader quipped that the law minister is citing rules as per his convenience.
However, based on the law minister’s refusal, the speaker ruled that the notice seeking leave for adjournment motion cannot be admitted, and moved on to other businesses scheduled for the day.
The opposition shouted slogans inside the house, and then conducted a mock assembly and adjournment motion discussion outside the main gate of the assembly. Thomas raised the matter in the mock assembly while N Shamsuddin took the role of the speaker. They also raised slogans demanding the resignation of the chief minister.
The Customs notice was reportedly issued on the basis of a reported statement by Swapna Suresh, the key accused in gold and dollar smuggling cases, that Vijayan and Sreeramakrishnan were involved in smuggling foreign currency to the UAE through consulate officials.