Kerala Speaker warns of strict action for parallel session in House

Kerala Assembly Speaker A N Shamseer in a ruling on Monday warned the Congress-led UDF Opposition that repeating acts, like holding of a parallel session in the House as was done last week, would invite stringent action against those involved.
The warning from the Chair came after the Assembly reconvened at 11.30 AM subsequent to being adjourned temporarily due to the disruption caused by the opposition during the question hour.
In his ruling, Shamseer said the Chair was surprised that senior MLAs of UDF were involved in the holding of the parallel session in the House, when the Assembly was going on, and disseminating visual recordings of the same.
“The Chair is hopeful that concerned MLAs will consider how such acts could affect the dignity and proceedings of the Assembly. If the same is repeated, stringent action would be taken against those involved,” Shamseer ruled.
The Assembly had seen uproarious scenes last Tuesday over the Brahmapuram waste yard fire as opposition UDF MLAs protested at the well of the House by holding a “parallel session” before staging a walkout.
The Speaker in his ruling today also expressed displeasure over the increased use of placards and banners in the House and waving of the same before the Speaker’s dais.
Shamseer pointed out that though strong protests have been held inside and outside the House in the past, under the rules and code of conduct the MLAs rights to agitate inside the Assembly are limited. He urged everyone to maintain order in the House and not disrupt anyone when they are speaking.
In response to the ruling, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the State Assembly V D Satheesan said that the two main reasons for the UDF not being able to cooperate with House proceedings were the recent “restrictions” on moving adjournment motions to discuss certain issues and secondly, the allegedly false non-bailable cases lodged against several opposition MLAs, including two women.